The Brat and the Basket Maker
by Schwester Aurelia
Summary: Charles Xavier is enjoying the latest scientific journals when he is hit by a wave of his upcoming heat... Historical AU, Alpha/Omega, non-powered. Charles is a spoiled noble Omega and Erik is the peasant Alpha who is in the vincinity when Charles' heat catches up with him. Rated M for the themes, but no explicit content. Warning for spankings in some chapters. Enjoy!
1. The first day

_Hi there!_

_This is a little story I wrote quite a while ago for another prompt on xmen first kink. _

_I have written a bit more to it since then (my writing pace is truly glacial sometimes) and I wanted to upload it here, too, for archival purposes._

_This is an Alpha/Omega story, so this is a world where men go into heat and can get pregnant. _

_If that's not your cup of tea, now would be the time to find another story._

_I will probably post about one chapter per week, so that will hopefully give me time to catch up on the stuff in the future chapters._

_Enjoy!_

_Warnings for: Dubious consent, spanking_

* * *

Charles feels the first wave of heat hit him when he's in the middle of purchasing supplies for his latest experiment. Sod this, he waited weeks for the minerals, he won't leave them behind now just because of some stupid biological issues. He should be fine for another hour, two hours at least. It's plenty of time to finish his purchase and head back to the estate.

And, well, it would have been, too, but then he unconsciously takes the road where the bookstore is, and stops there for just a minute to look through the newest scientific publications and – how on _earth_ did it become two hours later, that can't be possible!

He has been ignoring the building tension and warmth in his body in favor of concentrating on that fascinating article in this journal and so the second wave hits him as a bit of a surprise. He rather unceremoniously drops the journal and hurries out of the door, determined to get back to the safety of his own rooms in time.

Everyone knows what happens to unclaimed Omegas who are so reckless as to venture outside alone while in heat. Waking up mated to an Alpha who happened to be in the vicinity is the best-case-scenario and he has heard enough gruesome tales of Omegas who have been raped and left behind to last him a lifetime. He's been avoiding this fate quite easily so far, which is not very hard when you live in a giant mansion and tend to spend your days holed up either in the library or in your study.

He's not even a quarter of a mile deep into the woods surrounding the estate when the third wave hits him – it's beginning for real, now. The tremors start and the heat spreads through his whole body and won't subside and his clothes are feeling constricting and itchy. Normally, this would be his cue to curl up in bed and slip out of rational thinking for the next three days until he surfaces again in a bed with fresh sheets and a lot of water and comfort food on his bedside table. He's eternally grateful for Mrs McCloud who cares for him (and all other unbound Omegas on the estate) during such times.

Well, not this time. His legs are so shaky, they just give out under him and he barely makes it to the side of the road on his hands and knees, hiding behind some bushes in the last feeble attempt of self-preservation he's able to manage before he just collapses to the ground with a groan.

He feels too hot and too cold at the same time, slipping in and out of consciousness a few times before he finally goes under as the sun sets.

The last things he remembers before loosing coherency are warm and strong hands lifting him up and a gruff voice muttering, "What a goddamn fool goes for a walk in the woods when he knows his heat is coming on?"

His nose tells him_ Alpha, yes, good, secure_ and he feels instinct taking over his brain with a force like never before. He doesn't mind, though.

* * *

Well. He didn't mind back then during the heat – he does mind quite a bit waking up next to a virtual stranger three days later in a room in the tavern in town with a bonding bracelet on his wrist.

This is what he has learned happened during the time he was in heat:

Erik Lehnsherr, that's what he's called, is on his way back home from a market day where he was selling his baskets. Then he catches the scent of Charles by the side of the road and like any self-respecting previously unbound Alpha simply has to aid him in this time of need. So he takes him back to the tavern in town where they are, of course, prepared for this sort of thing and also know Charles' name and that his family will pay for all expenses.

Once in such close proximity to an available Alpha Charles' body can't rest until he's mated, of course. He wishes he had some memories that are a bit more detailed than a vague sense of being cared for and feeling the awful tension of heat melt away for the first time in … forever, actually. He's not overly sore, either. All of this tells him that Lehnsherr must have treated him right, but that doesn't help his frustration at being trapped in the life of an Omega mated to a commoner.

His mother and stepfather seem rather relieved to see him go, and the one bag of possessions he has been allowed to take is far too small (he longs to take his entire library – how can he part from any of his beloved books?) and far too heavy simultaneously (after carrying that blasted thing miles and miles through the landscape - honestly, how does Lehnsherr ever get into Westchester town on a market day? Does he leave in the middle of the night?).

He heaves a long-suffering sigh and shifts the strap of his bag to his other shoulder.

"I can't believe it! Me, former future Earl of Xavier, bonded to a lowly basket maker of all people! All my ancestors must be turning in their graves!" Charles grumbles as he trails sullenly behind his new mate, kicking at stones on the street.

"Shut up, Xavier," the peasant growls, and Charles bristles at the _nerve_ of that bloody commoner.

"That's _My Lord_ to you!"

The next thing he knows, he is shoved against the rough wall of one of the huts they were passing by, hard. Lehnsherr has a tight grip on his shirt and their faces are mere inches apart.

"Listen up, Xavier. You belong to me now, so I'll call you whatever I damn well please. I'm not happy to be bonded to a spoiled brat either, but now we have to live with it. And when I tell you to shut up, you better close that disrespectful mouth of yours at once, or else."

Charles, unfortunately, has never been one to leave well enough alone, so he just glares at him defiantly.

"Or else what?"

There is a dangerous glint in Lehnsherr's eyes now. "Or else I'll take down your fine britches and give you the sound spanking you've been asking for all day."

Charles blanches and his voice sounds suspiciously like a squeak. "What, in the middle of the street?!"

"_Yes._ So you'd better behave yourself."

And with that, Charles suddenly is released. He staggers for a moment, his mind reeling with what he's just heard.

He wouldn't really... would he? Charles decides to bide his time for now. It can't be that much farther to Lehnsherr's village, surely.

* * *

_This_, Charles thinks while he lies on his lumpy bag of straw that constitutes the bed, _is not how this was supposed to work. _

He's exhausted and quite a bit sore from the ridiculously long walk to Lehnsherr's village and then all the menial work Lehnsherr made him do (oh how the mighty have fallen!) and must have nearly bitten his tongue off a good dozen times during the day, because Lehnsherr made it _very_ clear what he thinks about backchat. As in, he went so far as to actually swat Charles' behind on two occasions, leaving him fuming with indignation. If Charles didn't have the misfortune to being bonded to this bastard, he could have had the offending hand chopped off by now.

Charles has had quite a clear picture of his future mate, little that he thought about the subject.

It was supposed to be someone of his own social class, someone nice and proper, not some gruff, illiterate, filthy _peasant_!

He was supposed to be properly courted with thoughtful presents and dances and tea and walks in the park supervised by a chaperon.

Then there was supposed to be a wonderful spring wedding, the whole estate bustling with guests, and a gigantic feast and a romantic honeymoon, afterwards.

Alas, none of that will ever happen now.

This, of course, leads him to think about all the things he'll probably never see again (he doesn't spare much thought to his relatives, they aren't so hard to leave behind as there never was much love wasted between them), and though the grounds of Westchester estate are dear to him and he'll miss his stallion, what really gets him down is the loss of his study with all his carefully collected books and journals and the little experiments he had worked on. He can't remember a time when he hasn't been fascinated by books and science and the hunger for knowledge, and now, just because of one stupid miscalculation on his part he is condemned to an endless life full of mindless chores and a surly mate and there's not even the tiniest shimmer of hope that this will ever change.

He curls up on his side and tries to make as little noise as possible, but he can't quite muffle every sound as tears begin running down his face.

He startles when he feels a calloused hand on his shoulder and tries to curl up even more into himself. But the hand is insistent and so he finally rolls over, only to be tucked securely against the side of his mate.

"Go to sleep, Charles," the familiar rough voice mumbles, and it sounds as tired as he feels. That must have been the first time he has heard his given name since he left the estate - and frankly, it scares him rather a bit. He's used to Lehnsherr being stern and demanding by now, but this feels... almost gentle.

He can't quite reconcile these two different sides of his mate, not in his exhausted state, anyway.

So he opts for concentrating on the circles Lehnsherr's hand slowly rubs into his shoulders and feels himself relax, his breathing evening out and his eyes drying finally.

Shortly before he falls asleep he feels something that could be a kiss pressed to his temple. Surely he must be dreaming already.

* * *

_And that's it for now, folks!_

_I hope you enjoyed, feedback is always welcomed. ^_^_


	2. The second morning

_Hi there, lovelies!_

_I know I said I'd update once a week, but since this was already written you get it a few days early._

_Thank you everyone who read, followed, added this to their favorites and reviewed! _

_You all make my day._

_I hope you enjoy!_

_**Warnings:**__ Actual spanking in this chapter._

_The dub con warning was just for the heat because Charles was pretty out of it and could not consent rationally. All sex from now on will be consensual._

* * *

The next morning starts far, _far_ too early. Charles is tired and grumpy and not at all inclined to get up at this ungodly hour Lehnsherr wants him to.

"Go 'way," he mumbles when his mate shakes his shoulder and tells him to get up, his arm flailing around aimlessly and swatting weakly in the general direction of the other's hand.

Unfortunately, instead of being left alone, his blanket is being yanked away. Yelping in the sudden cold, his eyes fly open to see an unimpressed Alpha frowning down at him.

"Up," is all Lehnsherr says and Charles just glares at him, tugging at the blanket in Lehnsherr's grasp.

"You're insane! It's freezing and it's not even fully light yet – there's no way in hell I'm getting up! Try again in three or four hours, you maniac!"

Lehnsherr's eyes take on that dangerous glint again and before Charles can get his bearings, he has been grabbed and thrown across the man's knee. He hasn't even time enough to take a breath to scream out in outrage before a brisk smack lands on his upturned behind, closely followed by more of the sort.

And _god_, does Lehnsherr hit hard!

"When I tell you to do something, you do it," the Alpha says, undisturbed by Charles' wailing and wriggling, keeping up the rhythm of his stinging swats with ease.

"Including standing up in the morning. No complaining, no giving me lip, you just obey. I went easy on you yesterday because you were still settling in, but you obviously need to learn your place. You are _my_ Omega now, not the entitled future Earl of Westchester and you will do as I say! Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear?" He demands, accentuating each word with a particularly hard swat to the tender under curve of Charles' backside.

"Fuck you!" Charles spits out angrily, bucking more than ever over Lehnsherr's knee, trying to twist out of his grasp.

"Clearly I'm not making an impression," Lehnsherr states and drops Charles rather unceremoniously to the floor. He stands and retrieves a couple of the willow rods that are watering in the corner.

Charles lets out a shriek and tries to scramble up off the floor and run.

Sadly, Lehnsherr is faster. With seemingly no effort whatsoever he has Charles across his knee again, his squirming legs secured between Lehnsherr's strong thighs and both his wrists caught in Lehnsherr's left hand.

Then the bastard lifts Charles' nightshirt with his right hand, tucks the bunched up fabric under the wrists in his hold and proceeds to really lay into him with one of the springy rods.

Charles throws his head back and howls – Lehnsherr's hand has felt bad, but _this_ is pure agony. The Alpha doesn't show any leniency and doesn't even lecture anymore, just concentrates on making Charles very sorry indeed.

Charles tries to fight with all his strength, squirming and twisting on Lehnsherr's lap like a worm on a hook, but he achieves nothing except further exhaustion for himself. Apart from the fact that Lehnsherr is bigger than him he also has the kind of muscles you built up with hard manual labor every day – sitting in his study and reading books hasn't done Charles any favours in that respect.

Finally, after what seems like an eternity, the switch breaks and Charles sighs in relief – until Lehnsherr picks up the next of the switches he brought with him. The thought that the Alpha would just go on while his behind already is on fire is just too awful to behold. Charles finally breaks down.

"Please..." he chokes out between sobs, "please stop!"

"Are you ready to apologize?" Lehnsherr asks firmly.

Charles bristles momentarily (he wasn't the one to rudely awake and assault his mate at this ungodly hour, after all!) but the Alpha taps the new switch warningly against his bottom and Charles nods frantically. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"And will you obey your Alpha from now on?"

"I will! Please, no more..."

He sniffs pitifully, feeling pathetic and completely wrung out. He just wishes Lehnsherr would free his hands so he could wipe his face.

"All right," the Alpha says, sounding much less stern now, and helps Charles stand up. Charles' hands fly back at once to rub his abused backside and fresh tears stream down his face. He feels like a thoroughly chastised little boy and his cheeks and even the tips of his ears burn in shame.

Lehnsherr stands as well and gently lifts Charles' chin with a finger. "Look at me," he says calmly.

Charles lifts his eyes slowly (he isn't really that keen on seeing Lehnsherr's impressive scowl directed at him) and is surprised when the Alpha looks almost sympathetic.

"I don't want to repeat this ordeal anytime soon. I'm sure you agree. Just watch your tone and do as you're told, then we'll be fine."

Charles nods miserably and is taken completely off guard when Lehnsherr pulls him into a hug. He stands stiff at first, but relaxes after a few moments, burying his face into the taller man's shoulder, drinking in the comfort from his mate. Lehnsherr hums approvingly and runs soothing hands up and down his back. Tentatively Charles brings his own arms to settle around Lehnsherr's waist and is rewarded with a squeeze.

It feels strange to be comforted by the man who has been hurting him mere minutes ago but also weirdly right. (Having never faced corporal punishment before Charles isn't quite sure of the protocol in these situations.)

Charles will take any moment of tenderness he can get, though, before the stern and demanding Alpha reappears.

Apparently Lehnsherr doesn't seem to be in a hurry, holding Charles until the last of his sniffles have evened out into normal breaths and his tears dried up. Then he gives him one last squeeze before he unwraps his arms from around Charles.

"You'd better wash up and get dressed, and then I need you to fetch fresh water or we won't be having any tea for breakfast."

_This_ gets Charles going at top speed because a morning without tea would be just unimaginable.

* * *

_Thanks for reading, comments and suggestions are always welcome._


	3. The first week

_Hi again, lovely readers!_

_Thanks for stopping by, reading and is the regular Friday update I was planning on, Chapter two was just a bonus. ^_^  
_

_There's a little more plot in this one and a tiny little bit angst (more like worry) and more comfort._

_I hope you enjoy!_

_No warnings._

* * *

The rest of the day passes rather uneventful, with Charles trying his best to learn how to do the unfamiliar chores and Lehnsherr working on his baskets. There are a few instances when Charles' temper flares and he makes some nasty remark, but after he learns that even just a light warning pat from Lehnsherr's broad hand to his backside can reignite the fire rather fiercely, he wisely holds his tongue.

He can just as easily rant about the general unfairness of his life and of certain gruff peasants in particular in his head. Even if it does feel rather nice when Lehnsherr compliments him on the tasty lunch.

"I wasn't aware you could cook that well. I might have misjudged you, Xavier."

Charles blushes. "Well, I've got quite a bit of experience with the sciences – it's not that different from a chemical experiment, when you think about it."

Lehnsherr looks genuinely interested. "So you are a scholar, then?"

Charles shrugs and averts his eyes. It still hurts to think about what he has been forced to leave behind.

Lehnsherr must be catching on to his mood, because he reaches out to take one of Charles hands and says with a sigh, "Listen. I'm sorry that you had to leave your home and I know I'm quite hard on you. But out here it is going to be tough to earn enough to feed us both as it is. You simply need to contribute for us to make a living and I need to know that you'll do as you're told."

Charles crosses his arms and scowls. "And you couldn't have just explained that to me rationally _before_ you beat my arse bloody?"

A feral grin breaks out on Lehnsherr's face. "Don't be a wimp, there wasn't any blood. Besides," he adds with a wink as he stands to wash his bowl and spoon, "you've got quite a delectable backside. You'd better watch your step, because spanking it was definitely not a chore."

Charles splutters and turns beet red in embarrassment, which only makes Lehnsherr grin wider and actually _tousle his hair _like he's some kind of kid!

"You're a jerk," Charles grumbles while he tries to get his hair in order again.

"And you're a brat," Lehnsherr replies mildly as he returns to his half finished basket. "Now, if you're done with the dishes I think we need some more water for the garden."

Charles groans, but does go back to his duties.

* * *

Eying the straw-filled bed and considering his still sore backside, Charles opts to sleep on his stomach that night. If he will get to sleep... He shoots a cautious glance in Lehnsherr's direction.

The night before they both had been too exhausted to do anything short of falling into bed and sleeping, (and, well, Charles being a little homesick) but he has the suspicion that sooner or later Lehnsherr will want a bit more.

And though he technically knows he's no longer a virgin and at least his body has some sort of familiarity with this particular Alpha, he's still a bit apprehensive. (Okay, scratch that, he's completely freaked out about the whole mating business and doesn't want it to happen, ever. Except perhaps in heat because then he doesn't have to think about it.)

But Lehnsherr only gives his rump a condescending pat and says "Scoot over," when he gets into bed. Charles feels relieved and annoyed at the same time.

The next few days they're settling into some sort of routine, Charles doing housework, Lehnsherr weaving his baskets and a few other choice items made from willow rods. One day he presents Charles with something that looks like a small carpet beater only with a much shorter handle – Charles is puzzled at first, because there isn't any carpet in the hut.

Lehnsherr grins at his bewilderment. "It's for keeping naughty Omegas in line," he says and smacks the offending item lightly against Charles' backside.

Charles has a hard time not kicking the bastard in the shins.

The teasing shows, however, that they're getting more familiar with each other – which also leads to some pretty loud fights between them when Charles gives Lehnsherr a piece of his mind about the general shabbiness of the hut and its interior or is just plain fed up with this stupid mindless way to spend his days with servant's work when he could be happily dissecting frogs at home.

The nights – well. That's another story altogether.

* * *

"No. Absolutely not. Leave me alone." Charles tries to sound adamant and confident in his refusal, but his voice is dangerously near a squeak as he clutches the blanket tight to his chest and scoots as far away from his mate as he can.

Lehnsherr frowns. "Don't be ridiculous. This is not the time to play the blushing virgin, Xavier. We both know you aren't one."

"I might as well be for all of the nothing I can remember!" Charles says hotly and this, at least, gives Lehnsherr some pause.

"You really don't recall anything?" he asks carefully.

Charles shrugs and looks down at his hands which are picking at a loose thread in the blanket now.

He risks a glance when he hears Lehnsherr sigh and sees him holding out his hands to Charles, his face having softened considerably.

"C'mere. I'm not going to do anything untoward, I just want to hold you."

After some hesitation Charles slowly inches closer and is lifted into Lehnsherr's lap.

The Alpha keeps his promise and doesn't do anything suggestive, just holds Charles close and runs a soothing hand up and down his flank. Charles feels himself relaxing gradually and even lays his head down on Lehnsherr's shoulder.

"You know," his mate starts quietly after a while, "it's not meant to be scary. It's something to enjoy. I thought..." he falters slightly and starts again. "I had the impression you were having not too bad a time, back then."

Charles shrugs again, a bit helplessly. "I remember feeling secure, and cared for, but not much more."

A smile breaks across Lehnsherr's face and he squeezes Charles. "That's good. Would you like me to make you feel that way again? And actually remember the proceedings this time?"

Charles takes his time to think about it, but nods at last. "Just, not tonight, please?" he asks quickly, because he's sure he can't handle it yet.

Lehnsherr nods and kisses his temple. "All right. We'll take our time."

Over the next evenings and nights Lehnsherr slowly but surely works on getting Charles comfortable enough to enjoy this side of their bond.

It starts with both of them taking a bath in the river. Lehnsherr's house is isolated enough that there are no prying eyes, and Charles' own eyes can't seem to get enough of that lean and well-toned body.

He quickly focuses elsewhere when Lehnsherr looks in his direction and when the Alpha comes nearer with that grin on his face, Charles dives and knocks him from his feet so they both end up completely drenched and with waterweed hanging in their hair.

Lehnsherr insists on washing Charles' hair for him and it does feel rather nice, Charles has to admit. He doesn't mind the other's hands lathering up his upper body with soap either, but when they stray near the waistline he firmly takes matters into his own hands.

Then he takes a breath and returns the favor by washing Lehnsherr's hair and torso. His hands, it seems, are equally as fascinated with the Alpha as his eyes. Charles blushes a deep scarlet when he feels other certain body parts of his perking up at the proceedings as well and quickly shoves the soap into Lehnsherr's hand and swims a few paces away to cool down.

And though Lehnsherr must have picked up what that was about he doesn't mention it at all, just hands Charles a towel when he steps out of the water.

He draws the Omega to his side again that night and as Charles dozes off he has the same feeling of security as in the beginning of his heat.

* * *

_Thanks for reading!_

_Comments and Suggestions are always welcome. I'm still working on the oncoming chapters, so if you'd like to see something in particular, drop me a line and I'll see if I can include it. ^_^_

_Oh, and secret tip for the people who don't like waiting: I've put a link to the original post in my profile, so whenever the changes become live, you can go over to xmfk and read a little more there!_


	4. The second week

_Hey there again, my lovelies!_

_This is the last chapter of part one – the one that's already published over at xmenfirstkink._

_After this we will come to new, exciting territory. I'm looking forward to it and hopefully, so are you!_

_As always, enjoy!_

_**Warnings:** Spanking in this chapter._

* * *

They don't progress much further than sleeping close and sharing baths, however, before the next market day arrives and Charles realizes there's a chance they never will.

The plan to run away has been forming since Charles woke up next to Lehnsherr after the heat. He even packed his possessions at the estate accordingly, taking his purse, anything small and valuable, sensible clothing and a few other useful supplies. He's lucky Lehnsherr has been respecting his privacy and not snooping through his stuff, otherwise he might have grown suspicious.

As it is, his mate has no clue. And now it is another market day and they're indeed getting up a few hours earlier than usual (good Lord!) and after a breakfast where Charles tries not to fall asleep again Lehnsherr gets ready for his long walk to the market.

He gives Charles some instructions what needs to be done today and then kisses his forehead goodbye and Charles really feels bad now.

He distracts himself by washing the dishes and tidying the hut and straightening the blankets on the bed, and then he sits down and takes a deep breath.

Yes, Lehnsherr is not actually a bad fellow (you know, for a peasant; though he is rather too gruff), but Charles isn't particularly looking forward to spending the rest of his days like this. He just wasn't meant for this life. A nice Omega from some other village would be a much more suitable mate for Lehnsherr and hopefully one day he'll find one of those.

_He'll get over me, _Charles tells himself and then he stands up resolutely, takes his belongings, gets on his boots and goes. _We've barely known each other two weeks. He'll be glad to go back to his quiet life from before, without any more hungry mouths to feed_.

He spends the rest of the day ignoring the growing feeling of uneasiness in the pit of his stomach, thinking instead of all the wonderful things he'd like to do with his new found freedom.

Whenever he comes across a stream he tugs off his boots and socks, folds up his trouser legs and walks in the water for a while to make it harder to follow the tracks.

The night he spends in a tree and wakes up shivering even before dawn. He decides to go on, hoping that walking will warm him up. It does. He keeps well away from the villages for now, he wants to bring as much distance between him and what he's left as he can before he encounters people again.

All is going quite well, actually. That is, until Lehnsherr catches up with him shortly after noon.

He is in the middle of some forest when he hears fast foot steps behind himself – he has barely turned around to see who it is before the Alpha is upon him, taking him by the shoulders and looking him over with a kind of frantic expression.

"Are you all right? Are you hurt in any way?"

Charles shakes his head, stunned by this strange proceedings. "I'm fine."

"Oh, thank god, I was worried sick about you," Lehnsherr says and before Charles can register this he is engulfed in a bone crushing hug.

Charles yelps in surprise. _What in the heavens is happening here? Shouldn't he be cross rather than relieved?_

They stand like this for a few moments, then Lehnsherr draws back and narrows his eyes at Charles and just like that the uneasy feeling that has been slowly eating away at him since yesterday morning is back in full force.

"What on earth possessed you to take off like that?!" the Alpha hisses and gives Charles a slight shake.

Charles opts to cover his guilty conscience with a tough demeanor. "I figured we were better off without each other so that we could both get on with our lives. Therefore I took myself out of the equation. I thought you'd be happy to get rid of me, Lehnsherr."

Lehnsherr stares at him incredulously. "You really believe that I would let my Omega run off and just get on with my life as if nothing had happened?"

Charles tries to infuse his "Yes" with as much conviction as he can muster, but has to avert his eyes and Lehnsherr sees through it right away.

The taller man snorts. "Nice try, Xavier."

Then, without wasting any more time, he yanks Charles' trousers and undergarments down and bends him over his hip, encircling the Omega's waist with his left arm.

Charles protests vocally but Lehnsherr just says, "Shut up, brat, you've earned this fair and square," and proceeds to administer a sound spanking.

Charles squirms and groans in discomfort, but doesn't put up too much of a fight. If he's very, very honest with himself he has to agree with his Alpha. A tiny part of him even feels oddly relieved to be taken to task, and the uneasiness in his stomach dissolves completely. (It is replaced, of course, by a burning bottom – but then, you simply can't have everything.)

At long last Lehnsherr lets him up and levels a stern look at him. "Are you going to run away again?"

Charles quickly shakes his head.

"Good," Lehnsherr says and draws Charles into another hug.

"I'm sorry I worried you," Charles offers quietly. He really is, he honestly didn't expect Lehnsherr to care that much about him. This might possibly change a few things.

Charles feels the Alpha smile against his neck. "You're forgiven."

Then he helps Charles to restore his clothing, retrieves his bag and takes him by the hand, tugging him along.

Charles rubs his backside with his free hand (though it's nowhere near as bad as after the switching it still hurts plenty) while he follows his mate, occasionally wincing when a movement causes the pain to flare up again.

They're taking the roads now instead of going cross-country as Charles had and this, combined with Lehnsherr's superior knowledge of the area, brings them back to the village by nightfall.

Lehnsherr hands Charles the water bucket and sends him in the direction of the river with a not too gentle swat to the bottom which makes him jump a little. When he comes back Lehnsherr has already set the table for a cold dinner and they both make short work of it, climbing straight into bed afterwards.

Charles is a bit conflicted between wanting to be near his mate and keeping his distance, but Lehnsherr solves that easily enough by simply tucking Charles to his side.

When the Omega tentatively lays his head down on Lehnsherr's chest he is rewarded with an approving rumble and a kiss to his hair.

It suddenly occurs to Charles that he has not once given his mate a kiss in his whole stay here, whereas Lehnsherr has done so on numerous occasions – and he feels awful all over again.

He tries to shuffle away, but Lehnsherr holds him still and asks softly, "What is it?"

Charles has to swallow a few times, his throat feeling very tight. He doesn't really know how to formulate an answer, so he just shakes his head and buries his face in Lehnsherr's shirt.

The Alpha starts to rub his back and this little gesture of comfort undoes Charles fragile composure completely. Hot tears begin to stream down his face and he turns away, trying to stifle his sobs in his hands.

Lehnsherr sits up against the wall then and carefully draws Charles into his lap, rocking him gently and holding him close. The nicer he is to him, the worse Charles feels about himself. It takes a long time for him to calm down.

When his breathing has returned to somewhat near normal, Lehnsherr asks again what it is that bothers him so.

Charles is a bit startled by the hoarseness his own voice, but tries to express his feelings as best as he can.

"I'm sorry I've been given you such a hard time. I was scared by this new life – I still am. It all happened so fast and just because of a stupid mistake on my part and now here we are, perfect strangers from totally different lives thrown together. I guess I didn't want to accept it just like that. I'm sorry I've let out all my frustration and anger on you – I see now that I was quite unfair. You've actually been rather nice in your own, grumpy way and I... I'm just sorry, all right?"

Lehnsherr nods, and smiles, and wipes away the last of Charles' tears. "All right, Charles. Apology accepted. Thank you for telling me."

Charles relaxes against him. "Could you keep doing that?" he asks somewhat shyly.

"Doing what?"

"Calling me Charles."

Lehnsherr positively beams at him. "Only if you call me Erik."

Charles' breath hitches. "I-I'll try, Erik."

"Wonderful."

Lehns-, no, _Erik_ kisses his forehead then and rearranges them both so that they're lying down again with Charles' head resting on Erik's chest like before.

"Goodnight, Charles."

Charles smiles when he answers, "Goodnight, Erik."

* * *

When Charles wakes up in the morning, he is in a _much_ better mood than all the previous mornings here so far. Beside him, Lehns-, no, Erik from now on, is still sleeping.

Charles takes a lot of satisfaction in the fact that he is able to wake his mate, for a change. He considers his options for a moment – a bucket of water would be really funny but would probably also lead to him sporting a smarting backside, which he really doesn't want to risk so soon after the last spanking – a kiss would be completely cheesy and he also doesn't feel completely up to it yet – so he goes with the easiest way of gently shaking Erik's shoulder.

Charles has to admit, Erik is far less grumpy to be woken up than he ever was. He even smiles sleepily and Charles' breath is taken away momentarily. He really is glad Erik came after him now.

"Good morning, Erik," he says, suddenly feeling shy again. But Erik's smile grows wider and he wishes him a good morning, too with a kiss to the tip of his nose, which makes Charles laugh.

They begin their day in good spirits.

"So, now that I'm staying I think there should be some changes," Charles announces over breakfast.

Erik frowns at him a bit suspiciously. "What kind of changes?"

Charles grins. "First of all, I'm going to buy a decent bed – I can't believe you've slept in that atrocity for years now, it's horrible!"

"And how would you like to accomplish that? We're not exactly showered with wealth, you know."

Charles grins even wider now. "You may not be, my dear fellow, but I came here prepared. I can assure you, I have enough funds with me for a lot of decent furniture."

Erik shakes his head, but the small smile on his face is full of fondness. "And what else would you like to change?"

"I want..." he trails off, suddenly a bit unsure.

Erik takes his hand. "Go on."

Charles takes a deep breath. "I want a proper wedding. One where I'm conscious and can agree on my own to our bond."

Erik's eyes soften and he says "Oh, Charles," with so much warmth it almost has Charles on the brink of tears. When he gestures for him to come over Charles goes willingly and lets himself be drawn into the lap of his Alpha.

Erik kisses him, for the first time, full on his lips. It's very chaste and sweet and Charles finds he likes it rather a lot.

Then Erik whispers into his ear, "You do know that this will involve a proper wedding night, right?" and Charles blushes deeply and starts to fidget.

"I-I'm not sure if I'm quite ready for that," he admits.

"Well then," Erik says with that feral grin of his, "I guess we'll have to practice." He stands and picks the Omega up in his arms.

"What, now?! In broad daylight?" Charles asks, a bit scandalised and a bit delighted (and a _lot_ turned on. Honestly, Erik is welcome to carry him around whenever he likes).

"I've recently been informed that my mate and future husband is rather well off. I think I can afford to spend a day on his further education in certain fields he has been neglecting so far," Erik says while he deposits Charles on the bed and leans down for another kiss.

Charles finds he has no objections to this noble plan.

* * *

_That's it for now!_

_Thank you all for reading, liking and reviewing._

_Comments and suggestions are most welcome._


	5. The third week

_Welcome back, lovely readers!_

_Now starts the long-awaited (by me) part where we see what happens further with Charles and Erik – so everything from now on has not been published before._

_I don't have a beta reader currently, and though I'm spell checking everything I am no native English speaker. So please, if there are any mistakes or funny sounding parts, drop me a line. _

_Thank you!_

_You can all thank the lovely _CS90_ for the second part – she suggested something from Erik's point of view. Thanks, darling!_

_And now – enjoy! ^_^_

_**No warnings.**_

* * *

It's the next day and Charles and Erik are sitting down to lunch after a morning filled with lots of work, as usual.

Charles is ladling soup into bowls, handing one to Erik, who thanks him and compliments him on the tasty lunch.

"You're welcome", Charles smiles. "So, I was wondering if you'd like a Jewish wedding?"

Erik stares at him, the spoon frozen half way to his mouth. "W-what? How do you..."

"How did I know you were Jewish? We don't eat pork, you never work on Saturdays and I saw that you're … ah …"

It's Erik's turn to smile now at his mate's obvious embarrassment. "Circumcised?" he finishes.

Charles blushes, but nods. "Yes, that. So, Jewish wedding? Do you know where the next Rabbi lives?"

"Two villages over. You don't mind? I mean, if you'd rather get married in our church here, the Vicar is a very nice man and I'm sure he'd be delighted to hold our ceremony."

Charles shrugs. "I'm fine either way. I haven't been that much of a churchgoer at home, and if it's important to you I'd love a Jewish wedding. I'm looking forward to learning more about you, including your beliefs."

Charles thinks that he'll never tire of Erik looking at him with such warmth as he is now – oh, and being bodily lifted into Erik's lap is really rather nice, too. And kisses. There can never be too many kisses in Charles' opinion and apparently Erik is sharing that sentiment completely.

They have to reheat the soup after they're finished with all the kissing, but neither of them minds.

* * *

_**Erik's POV**_

A few days later Erik comes in from fetching water and sees Charles staring blankly at the table in front of him. There are a few sheets of paper in front of him, and his hand is still holding a pen, but he's obviously deep in thought.

Erik gently sets down the water buckets, as to not disturb his mate. Then he pours a cup of tea and carefully approaches Charles.

But Charles doesn't look up, even as Erik sits down next to him. When Erik gently lays a hand on his arm, he starts and nearly knocks over the tea-cup. Erik manages to steady it in time, and takes Charles' flailing hands in his.

"Hey. I'm sorry I startled you. What were you thinking about?"

It's as if a shutter closes over Charles' expression, only polite apology left behind. He quickly gathers the paper strewn on the table, saying "Nothing" in a completely unconvincing light tone.

Erik debates for a second if he shall let this go, but Charles looks so unlike himself he just can't.

So he does let Charles gather up his papers, but when he stands up to leave Erik takes him by his waist and places his mate in his lap instead.

Charles' composure is broken by that, and he lets out a (in Erik's opinion very cute) little squeak of surprise a being manhandled like this. But his flush confirms Erik's speculation that the Omega loves it.

Erik comfortably hugs his mate from behind and buries his nose in Charles' hair. It smells wonderful, as always. Along with the bed, Charles insisted on buying better soap for them. Erik would have been perfectly alright with the cheap soap he used before, but he has to admit that the strange herbal compositions are not only much milder on the skin but also leave behind subtle and delicious fragrances. Frankly, Charles smells good enough to eat all of the time now.

Erik feels his mate relax against him, which makes him rumble in approval and hug Charles tighter.

"So," he begins pleasantly and runs a soothing hand over Charles' middle when he feels him tense up a little. "Why don't we try that again. What's on these papers?"

Charles stiffens further and Erik braces himself for a struggling Omega trying to get out of his arms, but then Charles sighs and deflates against him instead. "I – I was thinking about wedding invitations."

Erik gets this, of course. He is quite sympathetic to Charles sudden loss in status and privilege. (Though he has no problem in reigning in his mate with a firm hand when Charles throws a tantrum about it like a spoiled brat.) He sees Charles getting this sad look on his face sometimes when he thinks of his home, of his former life. A wedding for the heir of Westchester would have been a grand celebration, with probably hundreds of guests and weeks of preparations and dozens of elaborate courses during the great feast.

"I'm sorry." He says, and he is. He'd love to make his mate happy, but there's only so much he can offer and a giant wedding is definitely not on the table.

Charles turns inside his arms then, looking concerned and giving him a kiss. "It's not your fault, you know. I just thought, all these people who would have been so proud to receive an invitation before, probably wouldn't look twice at it now. They'd be embarrassed to associate with me now that I'm only the mate of a humble basket maker."

He's right, of course. But Erik bristles at the fatalism with which Charles says this, like it's perfectly alright for these shallow people to discard Charles just like that.

"Well, fuck them," Erik growls. "If they can't see what a wonderful person you are aside from your former title, they don't deserve to be invited to our wedding."

Charles stares at him with wide eyes and open mouth for a long moment, before a smile breaks out across his face and he takes Erik's face into his hands and kisses him, long and deep.

"Thank you. That was one of the nicest things someone ever said to me."

Now Erik knows he's not the best with compliments, or talking about his feelings or any of this kind. Before he met Charles, his approach was more on the silent and broody side of the scale than anything. But he has learned over the last weeks that while his mate has no qualms about making his feelings known (especially when he's fed up with household chores), there are also some vulnerabilities to him he doesn't mention often, if at all.

Erik gets the impression that Charles in spite of all the people bustling around Westchester estate and caring for his bodily needs, has lead a very lonely life so far.

Well, he has an Alpha now who can see to that, Erik thinks resolutely and resolves to tell Charles at least one thing he likes about him every day.

Never being one to shelve an already made resolution, Erik starts right away.

"Charles, you are a brilliant person. You're bright and caring and thoughtful. I'm honoured to be your mate and I'm completely thrilled that you want to marry me."

Charles eyes have widened at these unexpected words from his Alpha and a very fetching blush has risen on his cheek.

"O my god, can you please take me to bed now?" He blurts and then slaps a hand across his mouth in mortification, struggling to get off Erik's lap.

Erik laughs and hugs him tighter. "You don't need to be embarrassed, Liebling. That sounds like an excellent idea."

Charles relaxes again and Erik picks him up and does indeed take him to bed, even though it's still quite early in the evening. As he discovered a few days ago, Charles is extremely responsive and enthusiastic when it comes to mating, once he gets over his initial fear of the unknown.

It's one of Erik's favorite activities, getting Charles comfortable enough that he can enjoy himself and his body's reactions without inhibitions.

He has catalogued each of Charles' responses, what he likes, what he doesn't seem to like and all the delightful noises that he makes.

Tonight he plans on rendering his mate completely incoherent with desire.

(Suffice to say, he more than succeeds.)

* * *

_Ta-da!_

_Thanks for stopping by and reading, I hope you had fun. Suggestions and comments are most appreciated._

_See you next Friday!_


	6. The sixth week

_Welcome back, lovely readers! _

_Thank you everyone who read, liked, followed and commented, you keep me motivated!  
_

_So, this chapter is not really the next in the chronology, but it was already written and I didn't want to let you wait longer. It's also quite important for the story development. There might be a chapter inserted between chapter 5 and this one later on.  
_

_This time there are quite a few warnings which are also spoilers. Please scroll to the end to see the warnings, this might be triggery for some. It starts out quite angsty (for my standards), but there is comfort, too._

_If you don't want any clues about what's happening and aren't easily triggered, just read on._

* * *

_Oh, no, not again!_

Charles barely has time to make it to the outhouse before he is violently sick. Again. Like he was every damn morning for the last three days.

Charles sits back against the wall of the outhouse, exhausted and miserable. He gratefully accepts the cup of cold water Erik hands him and rinses his mouth, before lifting pitiful eyes to his mate.

"I hate stomach bugs, especially when they're this persistent."

Erik looks confused for a moment, before his eyes crinkle in silent laughter. "Charles, you're not ill."

"What are you talking about? Of course I am, why else would I be puking my guts out every morning?"

Erik shakes his head fondly and extends a hand to his mate to help him up. "It's just morning sickness. You're pregnant."

Charles nearly collapses back to the floor. "Wha– how – that _can't_ be possible!"

Erik lifts an eyebrow. "Do I really need to explain to you how human procreation works?"

Charles scoffs at him. He knows all about the procreation of dozens of species, including the human … mating … cycle …

This time Erik does need to catch him because his legs just give out under him.

_Of course!_ Charles thinks with dismay. _That's what happens during heat when you actually mate instead of waiting till it's over. How dense can you be, Xavier?_

Erik's concerned voice barely penetrates his internal monologue, but when the Alpha gives him a little shake, Charles snaps out of his thoughts for a moment.

"Pardon?" He asks faintly.

"Charles, are you all right?" Erik questions with a definite edge of worry to his voice.

Charles opens his mouth to reassure his mate, but no words come out. He's definitely _not_ all right. So he just shakes his head.

Erik's worry turns to determination and he picks Charles up and carries him back to bed, fluffing his pillow and tucking the Omega in. "Do you need anything? What can I do to make you feel better?"

Charles shrugs. He can't think of anything that will help him feel better. He's too far along for moon tea to have any effect besides giving him horrible stomach cramps and he just wants to sleep and forget about this all.

"I'd like to sleep," he says quietly, and is a bit startled how emotionless his voice sounds.

Erik smooths back his hair and kisses his forehead. "Of course, go to sleep, darling. I'll be here when you wake up."

Charles curls up and closes his eyes, and lets the white noise in his ears wash over him. Maybe when he wakes up he will find it was all just a nightmare.

He dreams of Westchester, of the nursery where a gentle breeze plays with the soft silk curtains of the cradle. He dreams of the apple orchard behind the stables, of holding his baby close to him, swaying and humming to them. He dreams of rows upon rows of tiny little baby clothes, brilliantly white and exquisitely tailored.

He wakes up later in the morning with wet cheeks and burning eyes. Erik has gathered him in his arms and is rocking him gently. He just wants to go back to his dreams and never wake up.

Charles would love to raise a child in Westchester. The space, the quiet, all the opportunities – it's perfect. Here, though ... he feels ready to be sick again.

It's always work, here. And although Charles' funds have brought them a little more comfort, Erik insists on them doing the work they can themselves. Which is a freaking lot.

How on earth should he make time for a child beyond fulfilling their most basic needs?

Charles presses the heels of his hands to his eyes, upset and angry and nauseous and feeling thoroughly cheated. There doesn't seem to be a viable option out of this whole mess from where he stands, but by God he will not be broken down because of this.

He just needs time to think.

And so he resolutely wipes his eyes, thanks Erik with a kiss for comforting him and gets up.

Erik still looks a bit doubtful, but leaves him alone thankfully. Charles goes about his chores with determination and finds a kind of grim satisfaction in scrubbing the pots and pans until they shine like they probably did the last time on the day they were purchased.

Although normally he whines as much as he can get away with (without getting swatted) about any household chore, they do have the advantage of keeping his hands busy while his brain is coming up with increasingly elaborate plans how to get out of his predicament.

Erik rises his eyebrows at him a few times, but still gives him his space.

The next few days go quite similar, Charles cleaning and scrubbing and sweeping with a vengeance.

While the hut becomes positively sparkling, Charles' mood does not. He still wakes up every morning with wet eyes, but manages to hold off the tears during the days mostly.

But as the days pass on and he thinks of and dismisses dozens of plans, he fluctuates between wanting to scream and wanting to break down in Erik's arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

There are a only a few real possibilities, neither of which are looking particularly good.

Of course Charles heard of more invasive methods of abortion than drinking moon tea. The problem is, he doesn't know any doctor or midwife he would trust to perform such a surgery on him. The ones who have sanitary standards he approves of would never risk performing such an illegal act. And the ones who would do it mostly are working in conditions where he wouldn't want to get a splinter removed, let alone … that.

When thinking about this option, Charles can't think of it in terms like child or baby if he doesn't want to loose the respectively latest meal he had at that time.

So that's a no.

The other option would be to run away. Again.

But unless he ties Erik to the bed in his sleep, takes a very fast horse to the coast and emigrates to Australia, he doesn't really see a way that one will work out, either. (And even then he's not entirely convinced Erik wouldn't follow him on the next ship and drag him home, after considerably warming his bottom.)

So, that's a no, too.

The only real option he sees is carrying the child to term and then giving them up for adoption. Or maybe his mother would take in her grandchild and let them be raised by the staff in Westchester.

It's not ideal, but it's still better than raising a child in this tiny, little, positively gleaming by now hut. But he's not at all sure Erik will give up his child without a major fight, if at all.

Charles lays down on the bed with a weary sigh at the end of the fourth day.

Erik joins him shortly after and gives him a long look.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?" Charles asks, although he has a good idea what.

"Whatever has got you so upset." Erik says, voice full of concern.

_Oh to hell with this,_ Charles thinks and finally begins to talk.

"You want to know why I'm upset? I'll tell you why, because I can't believe I've been so blind that I didn't even think about being pregnant until you told me I was! And now it's too bloody late to do something about it!"

Erik goes very still. "What do you mean, do something about it?"

Charles rolls his eyes. "Get rid of it, of course. If I had only realised this sooner I just could have drunk moon tea and everything would be fine now!"

Erik looks at him with an expression of absolute horror.

"You mean you would have _killed our child_?!"

Charles scowls at him. "Don't you dare judge me, Erik Lehnsherr!"

Erik nearly splutters at that. "I don't judge you! I just - I can't imagine why you would be so afraid of a pregnancy to go to such lengths."

"What! I'm not _afraid_!" Charles says, appalled by the mere idea.

Erik frowns, he seems like he's genuinely trying to understand. "What is it then? Don't you like children? Do you think you'll be a bad parent?"

Charles closes his eyes briefly. "No," he admits reluctantly. "I like them well enough and I should hope I'd do all right, it's just..." He trails off and swallows, averting his eyes.

Erik gently nudges him. "Go on."

Charles sighs. "You won't like it."

"I will like it even less if you'll leave me guessing," Erik says firmly.

"Well ... this just isn't the kind of life I had imagined for my child, all right?"

"And what kind of life _did_ you imagine?" Erik asks, not unfriendly, but not willing to let Charles off that easily, either.

Charles feels his face heating up slowly as a hot blush rises in his cheeks and he can't look Erik in the face.

And yes, okay, maybe his expectations of an army of servants preparing a nursery fit for a little prince or princess under his direction were a little bit over the top. As well as long, languid walks under the shady trees at the estate with the baby cradled to him, singing soft lullabies. As well as his dreams (and _oh god_ had he looked forward to these) of teaching his child everything he knows, from reading to the finer arts of the sciences, riding and playing the piano.

He feels tears well up in his eyes and resolutely blinks them away. It is _not fair_. He can live with the fact that his wedding will be small and quiet and that their lodgings are simple but it's just not fair that he has to subject his child to the same fate. He holds on to his frustration, because he's sick of crying and instead of answering Erik he spits out the first thing that comes to mind.

"I wouldn't expect a _filthy peasant_ to understand!" Charles says in the most scathing tone he can muster. Erik's eyes take on this dangerous glint and Charles yelps when his Alpha takes him by the ear and leads him over to where the dreadful carpet beater hangs on its nail in the wall.

Charles never especially _liked _that thing, but he hates it with a passion ever since Erik first used it on him a few weeks ago when Charles was in a temper and made some equally thoughtless and mean remarks about Erik's parents. Turns out they've died when Erik was just twelve in some really distressing circumstances, who knew.

Erik, of course, sees the carpet beater as a very efficient remedy against any form of bad temper.

Charles tries to pry Erik's fingers off his ear (to no effect, the Alpha is still much stronger than him) and sighs out a little with relief when Erik releases him. But that relief is very short-lived because Erik immediately bends him over his hip and applies half a dozen very businesslike smacks with that wretched carpet beater to his bottom.

"Are you ready to talk civilly yet?" Erik asks firmly and Charles grits his teeth against the overwhelming urge to swear at him some more. He knows from woeful experience Erik is well prepared to take him over his knee if he does so now and he's had enough of that blasted thing for today, thanks.

So he manages a halfway sincere "I am" and after a final warning swat, Erik lets him up.

Charles rubs his bottom and glares at his mate, more indignant than seriously hurt. (And he'd rather bite his tongue off than admit this, but Erik does have a point - his head is cleared miraculously and his former anger replaced by a healthy concern for his backside.)

"Go on then," Erik invites.

"I'm sorry I was rude," Charles begins grudgingly. "You're not filthy."

"A peasant, though?" Erik asks, looking more amused than irritated now.

"Well, you _are_," Charles points out reasonably, but as Erik raises the carpet beater slowly and thoughtfully, he hastily adds, "And there's nothing wrong with being one!"

"Nice save," Erik says dryly, but thankfully hangs the hated item back on its hook, which relieves Charles rather a lot. He swallows. It's still not fair that this happened to him, but it's equally not fair of him to blame it all on Erik. Charles has an earnest try at explaining himself.

"I... This..." He falters slightly and swallows again before finishing in a very small voice, "this is hard."

Erik nods, his eyes much warmer now. He takes Charles by the hand and leads him back to the bed where he arranges them with Charles on his lap and firmly enfolded in his strong arms.

"Which part is hard, darling?"

Charles turns, wraps his arms around Erik's neck and buries his face into Erik's shirt. And now the hated tears do rise and overflow and although Charles really tries, he can't quite hold back all sobs from escaping.

Erik rubs his back soothingly and just lets him cling on to him for the time being. It takes a while, but eventually Charles' grip on him looses a bit of his desperation and he is able to breathe more freely.

And then all just spills out in one giant mess. The grief and the frustration and the dreams he held so dear and the anger that even more precious dreams have been ripped away, the helplessness and the guilt about how he treated his mate.

Erik kisses his still wet eyelids, very gently. "You're forgiven. Charles, I'm sorry this happened to you. I'm sorry the heat surprised you and cost you so much. And I can understand that you want to give your child the best childhood possible - but guess what?"

Charles blinks at him, completely awed by Erik's understanding and tenderness. "What?" He whispers.

Erik smiles. "So do I. I want our child to be happy, and I want them to have nice things and have lots of time for them and teach them everything they might need or want to know. They probably won't have a nursery as splendid as you planned or a pony of their own, but I promise you, I will do my absolute best to make our child happy. All right?"

Charles answer is to kiss him breathless. And since they're conveniently already in bed... well. Things go uphill fast from there.

"The correct name for my profession is craftsman, by the way, not peasant," Erik says sometime later while they are not yet sleeping, Charles' head lying on his chest.

An involuntary giggle rises in Charles' throat and he buries his face a little more into Erik's nightshirt. "I know that," comes the slightly muffled reply.

"Good," Erik states, his hand, which had been tracing idle patterns on Charles' back, coming to rest on his Omega's backside (which communicates a lot of reassurance as well as a light warning and never fails to make Charles squirm a bit). "Then you can ban that word from your vocabulary altogether, my lad, as you're only using it for insults anyway."

Charles raises his head a little and squints at him. "Are you being serious with me right now?"

"Oh yes, I am. I'm going to do anything I can to discourage these silly ideas in your head of someone being better just because they happen to have more money than others."

Charles sighs in a way that says clearly how very kind it is of him to put up with Erik's ridiculous demands, but promises not to call anyone a peasant again. (At least not where Erik can hear him, he adds silently.)

Besides, being mated to this particular peasant has proven to be not too bad, so Charles is willing to revise his opinion of peasants in general, if there is scientific evidence to prove him wrong. Clearly, he needs more data, which means more visits to the village. Erik will be thrilled.

And on that hopeful note, Charles drifts off to sleep, feeling content and hopeful for the first time in days.

* * *

_**Warnings:**_

_Charles is really miserable when he finds out he is pregnant and contemplates abortion. There is no actual abortion taking place, but Charles is quite serious about his plan. In this world, abortion is illegal, and so it's often done in unsafe circumstances. There are no graphic descriptions. _

_Angst and comfort. Oh, and also bratting and spanking._

_I would like to point out that I've never been pregnant before and all my friends and family members who recently got kids were looking forward to them very much, so I don't have much personal experience with unwanted pregnancy. If I upset anyone, I'm seriously sorry, that's not my intention. I firmly believe that a woman should be able to make her own choices about her body and also that she should not be left alone when she has to make hard decisions. That's enough from me now, you're welcome to discuss this further in the comments._

_As always, thanks for stopping by and reading!  
_


	7. The seventh week, part one

_Hello, dear readers!_

_Thank you all for your patience, I'm sorry this took so long._

_I'm afraid I can't promise regular weekly updates, but I'll write as fast as I can._

_Thank you all once again for stopping by, reading, liking, following and commenting. A special welcome to everyone who came over from the xmenfirstkink site, glad you found it, guys!_

_There are some new characters introduced in this chapter and it's much happier than the last one. I hope you enjoy!_

**_No warnings._**

* * *

Erik is out cutting new willow branches and Charles is washing the dishes from breakfast, humming softly and thinking about his options for lunch.

He knows how long it normally takes Erik to gather the willow rods, so he is a bit startled when the door to the hut suddenly opens much sooner than he expected. He is even more startled when a young woman walks in purposefully as if she lives here and calls out "Erik! Guess who's here!"

Charles just gapes at her, soapy water dripping from his hands. The woman looks around and when her eye catches Charles her face lights up and she strides towards him with a big smile.

"Oh, you must be Charles! How wonderful to finally meet you!" Then she _wraps him in a hug!_

"Um..." Charles says eloquently. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

The woman draws back and shakes her head with an exasperated expression. "I swear to God, I'm gonna whack Erik upside the head." She extends a hand to Charles. "Hello, I'm Ruth Silverstein. I'm Erik's sister."

Charles takes her hand and shakes it mechanically, still reeling from the shock. "Pleased to meet you. Charles Xavier. I didn't know Erik had a sister."

Ruth rolls her eyes. "Yeah, that idiot brother of mine is not the most talkative when it comes to sharing information about himself. Sorry about that."

"I'm … pretty sure it's not your fault?"

Ruth laughs out loud. "I think you're my new favorite. How about some tea, and I share some embarrassing stories from Erik's childhood?"

Now _that_ is just too good an opportunity to pass up. Charles sets about making tea right away.

Half an hour later when Erik comes back, arms full of willow, Charles is listening raptly to Ruth telling him about the time when Erik rode a cow on a dare – or rather, attempted to.

Erik just sighs long-suffering and puts the willow in the trough to water.

"Hello Ruthie. If you'd kindly stop undermining my authority now, I'd be much obliged."

Ruth scoffs. "Please. We all know you're a big softy underneath that tough stern Alpha mask you like to wear."

It is not actually that surprising considering their teasing tone that the Lehnsherr siblings share a long, tight embrace next. Charles goes to make more tea, because clearly they'll be not going back to work for the foreseeable future.

After a while Erik draws back a little and tenderly brushes back a strand of hair from his sisters face.

"Are you alright? And Samuel and the kids?"

Ruth smiles, and nods, and proceeds to relate the latest adventures of her offspring.

Samuel is Ruth's husband, that much had Charles gained. In the course of Ruth's visit he learns a lot more about her family, as well as his own mate.

Ruth and Samuel have been married for a few years now and have two small children. Ruth is five years younger than Erik, but was mated way before him.

They live two villages over, in the same village as the Rabbi, actually, who just happens to be Samuel's uncle.

When the morning turns into midday Charles starts to gather the ingredients for lunch and Ruth is quick to help him, moving about the kitchen with an ease that tells of her complete familiarity with the hut. Erik does go back to weaving, but as the hut is really not that big this doesn't deter them from talking.

"Did you live here when you were younger?" Charles asks Ruth when they're comfortably chopping vegetables next to each other. Ruth has offered to teach him some kosher recipes and they agreed on a stew for today.

"Oh, yes, I did. Up until I married Samuel, actually. Did Erik tell you a little about our childhood?"

Charles shakes his head. He and Erik have not really talked all that much about their respective pasts.

Charles doesn't like to dwell on the live he's left behind and Erik doesn't talk about himself at all if he can help it.

Ruth sighs sympathetically and gives Charles an one-armed hug.

"Erik's not the best with words. Which you've probably already gathered."

"I'm right here," Erik remarks dryly.

"Well, it's true!" Ruth insists. "Honestly, you're mated for nearly two months now and you never thought to mention you've got a sister? If Mrs. O'Connell hadn't happened to visit her aunt in our village last week I still wouldn't have known you had a mate! I know you like your privacy, Erik, but this is taking things a little too far."

Erik grimaces at that and comes over to them. He hugs Ruth and Charles in turn. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to keep you from each other. It's just been a busy few weeks and I … forgot."

Ruth narrows her eyes at him. "Well just be grateful I know how bad you are with social niceties. And I expect you both for the next sabbath dinner, no excuses."

Erik looks to Charles, a little tentatively. Charles beams at the siblings. "I'd love that. I've never been invited to a sabbath dinner."

Ruth beams back at him and hugs him. "Great! You should know you're welcome any time in our home, Charles. You're family."

Charles has to swallow at that and feels his eyes getting a little watery.

His family was never big on declarations of love, or showing physical affection. He did not think that was an option for him at all until he came to live with Erik.

Erik may not be so great with words – though he's definitely trying – but he's really good with showing his feelings through actions. Charles has soaked up his love and kindness in hugs and kisses and when they're intimate. His subconsciousness associates Erik's scent with security and warmth and a whole lot of other good things Charles can't quite discern.

Apparently Ruth's scent is similar enough to Erik's that it registers as family, too, because he usually is really cautious with people he just met. But when she hugs him it doesn't make him feel uncomfortable at all, only safe and loved and welcomed.

"Thank you," he says quietly. "You and your family are welcome here as well, of course. I'd love to get to know you all."

Ruth assures him that there will be plenty of opportunities for that in the future.

As it seems, this includes the immediate future as well, because shortly before lunch is ready, Samuel and the kids join them.

Charles is coming back from the river with a bucket full of fresh water, when he sees Erik standing before their door, tossing a delighted boy into the air and catching him.

"Again, again, uncle Erik!" The boy calls and then squeals in delight when Erik obliges him.

Next to him is a young man with a little girl sat on his hip, an indulgent smile on his face.

While Charles approaches them, Ruth comes out of the hut as well. The little girl turns to her immediately, holding out her arms and Ruth takes her from her husband at once to cradle her close.

"Shh, mama's here, Liebling." She gently rocks her daughter and presses kisses to her hair.

Charles places his bucket on the ground and comes to stand next to Erik, who has the little boy in his arms now. Erik smiles at his mate and draws him to his side, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

"Charles, I'd like you to meet the rest of the family. This is Samuel and these are Pietro and Wanda."

Samuel extends a hand to him and Charles shakes it, smiling shyly. "Hello, Samuel. Welcome to our home." Then he gives a little wave at both of the kids who peer at him curiously. "Hello Wanda, hello Pietro."

"Are you our uncle, too?" Pietro asks.

Charles smiles at him. "You could say that. I'm the mate of your uncle Erik, so you can call me uncle Charles, if you like."

Pietro nods, apparently satisfied. Wanda smiles at him, but doesn't say anything.

Charles turns to Samuel again. "Would you all like to stay for lunch? It should be ready shortly."

"Thank you, that would be very nice."

They all file into the hut, where the fragrances of the stew fill the air. Charles busies himself offering tea to the newcomers and setting the table, while Erik amuses the children by showing them his latest creations.

Samuel and Ruth are talking quietly and Charles can't help but notice that Ruth does look a little guilty there.

"We'll discuss you taking off and only leaving a note further at home," he hears Samuel say mildly right before he kisses his wife and draws her into an embrace.

Ruth blushes at that and Charles is suddenly reminded of an occasion a few weeks ago. They were both working in the garden, Charles was thoroughly fed up after hours of weeding and began swearing quite colourfully. Erik asked him if they needed to have a "little discussion" about his language and when Charles told him to fuck off he learned that Erik did not mean a face to face conversation.

Apparently Samuel and Erik share some ideas how to treat their Omegas, it figures. He shivers inwardly when he thinks about taking off on his own with just leaving a note for Erik – his Alpha would be definitely not amused.

But now the lunch is ready and after everyone washes their hands, they all gather at the table. Charles is a little startled when Samuel asks Erik if he'd like to say the blessings. They never prayed before a meal, but Erik agrees readily now and says something in Hebrew Charles doesn't quite catch before breaking the bread and passing it on to his sister. He studied a little Hebrew when he was younger, but he's not very proficient at it, especially not when it's spoken.

He resolves to ask Erik about this later. For now, he just enjoys the meal with his family.

* * *

_I know Wanda and Pietro are normally the kids of Erik, but I didn't want to burden Charles with twins in his first pregnancy. But I love these two, so they're joining us as niece and nephew!_

_I hope you enjoyed, I certainly had fun writing this._

_As always, comments, suggestions and everything else you want to say is most welcome. Have a good day!_


	8. The seventh week, part two

_Hello back lovely readers!_

_Possibly the last chapter of 2014, but we'll see how much time I'll have over the holidays for writing._

_Happy holidays for those of you who celebrate any of them, the rest of you just have some nice late autumn/early winter days I hope!_

_The dear __Guardian of the Phoenix __made me aware that there is some crucial background information about this verse that so far was only clear in my head and not in the published writing. So, there's a little explanation in the chapter later on. And we have another little look from Erik's perspective, though it's still written in third person._

_I hope you enjoy!_

_**No warnings in this one.**_

* * *

"Erik?" Charles asks quietly later that evening, while they're in bed but not yet sleeping.

"Mhm?"

"You are really great with Wanda and Pietro."

Charles can hear the smile in his husbands answer. "Well, they are great kids. But thank you."

Charles is glad it's night. Some things are easier said in the dark. "I'm sure you'll make a wonderful father. I'm just … scared."

Erik tugs him near and hugs him. "You are not alone in this, Liebling. And I will do everything I can to make this easier for you."

Charles swallows and asks, very tentatively, "Will you buy a bigger house?"

Thankfully Erik doesn't make fun of him, but answers, very seriously, "Do we have enough funds for that?"

"Um … how much does a house cost?"

Erik thinks about it, then tells him about the prices for different size houses that are for sale in the nearby villages, as far as he knows them.

Charles does a quick mental calculation of the funds he brought with him. Apart from the bed and some household items like better soap he only bought a few books. He has more than enough to acquire any of the houses Erik describes, as well as furnish it.

He tells Erik so and hears him exhale slowly. "Well. If it means that much to you, I guess we can move, then."

Charles turns towards his mate, trying to make out his features in the dim moonlight that filters in from the windows.

"You don't sound happy about that."

He feels Erik shrug. "It's just … I've lived here a long time. Ruth and I moved here when I was sixteen and old enough to support us. I've … made a lot of good memories here."

Charles presses a kiss to Erik's mouth. "I don't want to move if it makes you unhappy."

Erik smiles and kisses him back. "And I don't want to stay here if it makes _you_ unhappy. We'll talk more in the morning, sweetheart. Let's sleep now."

* * *

_Erik's POV_

In the morning, there is water to fetch, breakfast to cook, any number of chores to be done. Charles, usually not up to anything before he had a few cups of tea, is working quite diligently this morning, and when he's finished with one chore he immediately moves to the next. He's most definitely not talking.

Erik watches him for a little while. He's learned that Charles only gets this quiet and conscientious about chores when he stews on something, and he really doesn't like his mate not talking to him.

So after watching Charles bustle around for half the morning Erik makes a decision, walks up to him and catches him around the middle. He smiles at the little squawk of surprise he hears at that.

"Stop."

Charles looks puzzled. "Stop sweeping? Why, is something wrong with the broom?"

Erik shakes his head. "The broom is fine. I'd like to talk to you."

Charles face closes off at that and he tries to extract himself from his Alpha's arms.

Well, that won't do, Erik decides and picks his mate up.

Charles instinctively wraps his legs around Erik's waist, and doesn't protest when he's carried to the bed and lowered into Erik's lap.

"About that house," Erik begins but is immediately interrupted by his mate.

"We don't have to move! Really, we don't. Forget I said anything, it was a stupid idea."

Erik silences him in the most efficient way he knows: with a kiss. When they both come up for air some time later, Charles looks a little dazed.

Erik looks him in the eye and speaks gently.

"Liebling. It was obviously important to you, or you wouldn't have brought it up. It wasn't a stupid idea either. So, I'm not sure why you're so flustered about it this morning, but I'd really like us to talk it through. You're important to me, and I want to make you as happy as I can. If that means buying a bigger house, I'm all for it."

Charles looks like he's about to cry. He turns to hide his face in Erik's shirt and for a while Erik just holds him, gently rocking him and drawing soothing patterns on his back.

"I thought..." Charles falters, and swallows, and starts anew, face still hidden against his Alpha and voice rough. "I thought it would be easier. To have more space and proper furniture, like, like a cradle..." his voice actually breaks on the last word and his shoulders begin to tremble and Erik just gathers him close, his own heart breaking at how forlorn his mate sounds.

Charles wraps his arms tightly around Erik's middle, body shaking with sobs and Erik holds on to him as tight as he can.

He remembers one night a few years ago when he was woken up by his sister, who had come all the way from her home and husband to him in the dark, six months along in her first pregnancy and absolutely terrified. It had taken a long time to calm her down then. After a few hours a frantic Samuel had joined them and they had both stayed over the next few days. Ruth had been generally happy during her pregnancy, very much in love with Samuel and greatly looking forwards to having a child with him. But someone had made a thoughtless remark the day when she came to Erik and she apparently had been grabbed by the overwhelming terror of being not ready for this child, being too young, too inexperienced, too carefree.

Needless to say, both Samuel and Erik had given that person quite a piece of their minds a few days later when Ruth's confidence had been restored and she was back to her usual cheerful self. There had been very heartfelt apologies after that.

When even Ruth had been afflicted that badly by doubts about the pregnancy, how hard must this all be for Charles. He did not choose this life, and had only just begun coming to terms with living as Erik's mate when the news of the pregnancy blindsided him.

Erik would do anything to make this easier for his mate. If it was at all possible, he'd even suggest Charles going back to his family and raising the child there, even if he himself would be devastated to lose his mate and their child. But that's not an option anyway and they need to make the best they can of this situation. Had Charles been a little older when they met, their lives would have turned out quite differently. After Lord Brian Xavier (Charles' father) died, his wife Lady Sharon became the ruling stewardess of the earldom of Westchester until Charles would come of age when he became 21. Unfortunately, Charles was only 19 when they met. Lady Sharon and her new husband Kurt decided that they did not want to lose the earldom of Westchester to a mere basket maker when Charles came of age, as everything Charles owns would become Erik's according to law. So they disinherited Charles and only allowed him to take as much of his personal effects as he could carry.

On the other hand, at age 21 Charles would have probably been already wedded to noble Alpha anyway, so they wouldn't have ended up together at Westchester estate in any case.

Sometimes Erik wishes he'd never met Charles during his heat, so that the Omega could have gone on with his comfortable life. But he's still glad he found him before some questionable character could take advantage of him.

For now he just holds Charles, pressing kisses to his hair and murmuring soft words of love and reassurance.

It takes a long while for Charles to calm down, but Erik can be a patient man if needed.

At last, Charles sits back and wipes his eyes.

"Sorry," he whispers hoarsely.

"There's nothing to be sorry for," Erik tells him calmly. "I know this must be all a little overwhelming for you. And if a bigger house will make you more comfortable, we will start looking at houses tomorrow. Although I admit I don't have much experience with furnishing, so I'd like your help on that."

That earns him a still somewhat shaky smile, but at least Charles is looking a little more at ease now.

"That would be lovely," his mate answers quietly, but sincerely.

Erik gives him a kiss and an encouraging smile. "Well, that's settled then. I was thinking we could keep this house for weekends or such? It really has not that much market value and what you said about your funds led me to believe we'd be fine either way."

Charles nods at that. "That's a great idea. That way you still can preserve the good memories you made here and we can also add new ones, too."

Erik smiles and hugs his mate in gratitude. "Thank you, this means a lot to me. And I'd like you to know you can come to me with anything, anytime. I might not always be able to help, and sometimes I might say no, but I still want to know. All right?"

Charles gets a contemplative look and then asks with a deceptive air of innocence, "Can we get rid of that carpet beater, then? It would mean _so much_ to me!"

Erik shakes his head fondly and kisses his mate. "Not a chance. But nice try, Liebling. Now, how about you rest a little bit and I see about lunch?"

Charles shrugs unconcerned. "It was worth a shot. And thank you, I think I'll take you up on that."

So after making sure Charles is comfortable Erik goes and sees what the pantry has to offer.

* * *

_Thanks for stopping by, I hope you had fun!_

_I always love to hear from you, but lurkers are very welcome, too! :D I'm more of a lurking person myself when I read other stories._

_So, see you next time!_


	9. The eighth week

_Yay one more chapter in ye olde year 2014!_

_And I'm quite surprised myself what a decent length it has turned out to be! _

_I hope you enjoy, lovely readers and wish you all a happy and healthy 2015!_

_**Warnings: Spanking in this chapter**_

* * *

"Erik?"

No answer.

Charles, who is expecting Erik in the garden is a little puzzled at not finding him there. Then he hears some uncommon noises coming from the shed and goes to investigate.

But before he can properly open the door it is taken from his hand and his Alpha steps through.

"Hello Liebling. I'm sorry, I didn't hear you. Is it lunch time already?"

Charles nods and tries to get a glimpse of the interior of the shed. "What are you doing in there, anyway?"

Erik smiles enigmatically and closes the door behind him. "It's a surprise."

Charles' face lights up at that. "A surprise? For _me_?"

His Alpha laughs and gives him a kiss. "Yes, for you. And I don't want you to spoil it, so please stay out of the shed for the next days."

"But Erik!" Charles wheedles, "I'd much rather know now!"

"Well, and I'd much rather surprise you, and seeing as it's my gift that means I get to say when it's delivered to you."

Charles turns his large blue eyes to his mate with a beseeching look.

Erik just chuckles at that and fondly ruffles Charles' hair. "And stop it with the puppy dog expression, it won't make me change my mind."

Charles sighs. "Well, it was worth a try."

By then they have reached the interior of the hut and Erik helps Charles carry the pan and pots over to the table before they sit down to eat.

"Can I ask you something else?" Charles asks somewhat shyly.

Erik takes his hand and squeezes reassuringly. "Of course, sweetheart."

"You know when Samuel and Ruth were over and we were eating?"

It's Erik's face that is lighting up now. "Oh! You want me to say the blessing?"

"If you'd like?"

Charles still looks a little unsure and Erik draws him near for a kiss.

"I'm very happy to say the blessing before every single meal we have, if you want me to. And I could also teach you some blessings?" he ventures carefully.

"That would be very nice," Charles says sincerely, which earns him another kiss and a smile.

"All right, let's start. If we want to do this properly, we should wash our hands first."

Charles follows his mate over to the wash basin and they wash their hands.

Erik goes on explaining.

"While doing so we say this:

ברוך אתה ה' א-לוהינו, מלך העולם, אשר קדשנו במצותיו וצונו על נטילת ידים."

Charles smiles. "That's beautiful. But I only got _Adonai Elohenu_ and _melekh ha'olam_ – king of everything?"

Erik is so startled his hands freeze mid-washing. "Y-you know Hebrew?"

Charles looks a bit abashed. "Um, yes, I studied a little when I was younger. I'm not very good, though, especially not with the spoken language."

Charles is alarmed to see that Erik's eyes are turning a little wet there and impulsively takes his Alpha's face into his hands, caressing Erik's cheeks with his thumbs. "Hey now, please don't cry."

Erik wraps his arms around his mate and buries his face into Charles' hair.

Erik's voice is slightly muffled and a little rough but Charles understands him just fine.

"You're perfect, you know that? No one could ask for a better mate than you."

"Even though I'm not really good at chores and talk back to you a lot?" Charles whispers back. He does feel insecure sometimes, wondering if Erik had not been better off with someone else, someone more used to village life, someone less inclined to arguing.

Erik draws back and kisses him, very thoroughly. "Even then. Charles, I love you just the way you are, and I wouldn't trade you for anyone. And that you already know some Hebrew … that's just amazing. I'm privileged to call such an intelligent man my own."

Charles blushes under the praise, but feels very happy and cherished from Erik's words. "Thank you. I'm glad as well to have you for my mate." His voice is still quiet, but sincere.

They stay like that for a little while longer, enjoying each other's embrace. Then Erik draws back again and smooths Charles' hair from his face to kiss his forehead. "Let's go eat, shall we?"

The food has not turned too cold yet, and Erik explains the blessings he speaks - "Blessed are You, LORD our God, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us concerning washing of hands." for the washing and "Blessed are You, LORD our God, King of the universe, through Whose word everything comes into being." for the food.

There are different blessings for different food groups, and Charles is very much enjoying learning about them from his mate, especially when Erik encourages him to repeat the words and corrects his pronunciation.

"You're really good at this." Erik praises him, beaming with pride.

"Thank you. I seem to have a knack for languages, or that's what my tutors told me."

Erik smiles and brushes Charles' hair out of his face. "Well, I'm very happy to practice Hebrew with you, and I know Samuel and his uncle would be thrilled as well if you'd like them to help."

Charles smiles back shyly. "This is just fine for me right now."

They spend the remainder of lunch and their afternoon talking about the different houses Erik has inquired about. There are two for sale in their village, one of which sounds particularly interesting to Charles, because it is a respectable farmstead with lots of space in the house as well as stables, barns, places for workshops and enough farm land not only for a small kitchen garden but to grow their own grain and potatoes and whatever they need.

Charles is very well schooled in the management of earldoms in general and estates in particular and his funds are sufficient for them to become real, honorable farmers, should they wish so. They would need farm hands, of course, but from what Charles has experienced so far in Westchester and in his talks with the folk of the village, there is no shortage of willing and able bodied personnel if you're going to be paying decent wages and treating them fairly.

The only tiny little problem is that he's not at all sure how Erik will take his idea and he hasn't found the courage yet to bring it up.

But they will go and look at the house next week, perhaps Erik will fall in love with it and everything will fall into place. (A person can dream.)

For now, Charles does not let this bother him too much.

There is, however, one thing that bothers him quite a lot, and that is his mate's sudden, completely disproportionate fondness of secrecy. Honestly! Erik has already said what he's working on is meant to be a gift for Charles, why on earth can't he see it now? Charles is still a little put out about this when they go to bed, his resolve ever growing to find out just what his mate is working on in the mysterious shed.

* * *

Charles is, by nature, an inquisitive person. This has driven him to excel at his studies and become not only a voracious reader of science journals and ancient tomes alike, but also led him to start exchanging letters with other scientists scattered around the globe who share similar interests with him.

It has also led him to discover an astonishing number of persons in and around Westchester estate in quite compromising positions over the years. Charles has learned to silently tiptoe away in these situations to spare everyone the humiliation.

Long story short, Charles has never had to curb his curiosity before, and he's having a very hard time trying to do so now.

Or let's just say, he doesn't so much try to curb his curiosity as he tries to get stealthier about it.

Yesterday evening he had collected Erik for supper from the shed (again! Doesn't that man have baskets to weave?), very casually trying to sneak a peak.

Erik had turned him around towards the house with a swat and a good-natured "I thought I told you it's meant to be a surprise?" – which Charles has just taken as an incentive to get more creative.

So now he has spent the morning finding every possible work that needs doing in the garden and doing it. And if his way to the river to fetch water just so happens to take him by the shed instead of the shorter way round the other side of the house – well who's there to blame him? Certainly not Erik, because he's inside the shed, doing God-knows-what.

Charles stops beside the shed (water-bucket in hand for an alibi) and listens for a clue what is going on in there. There is hammering, sawing, and something that is possibly planing of wood, interspersed with long periods of near silence, any sound too quiet to make out.

The curiosity is driving Charles insane.

So this is why, when Erik leaves the shed mid morning to use the privy, Charles hurries quietly over to the single narrow window of the shed to have a peak inside. He won't risk opening the door, because it creaks.

Unfortunately, the window is quite high in the wall and he is a little too small to reach it comfortably, even when he holds on to the windowsill and stands on his tiptoes. He is pondering going to the kitchen and fetching a chair, when he hears feet approaching.

"Charles Francis Xavier, what do you think you're doing?!"

Charles turns around slowly and lifts his eyes even more slowly to his irate Alpha. Erik cuts an impressive figure, hands on his hips and eyes blazing.

Charles' mouth feels very dry and all curiosity has suddenly deserted him. He opens and closes his mouth a few times, but can't find any words.

Erik takes a good look at him, then he shakes his head. He walks the few paces between them, grabs Charles' wrist and drags him to the hut, lecturing him on the way.

"When I say 'Stay out of the shed' I mean 'Stay out of the shed', Charles. I certainly don't mean 'Sneak behind my back and look inside the window'. I'm really disappointed with your behaviour, young man."

Charles shivers. He hasn't been called "young man" since Graves, the butler, found him sitting on the floor of the library in the middle of the night with a single candle, completely engrossed in a heavy encyclopedia. He was ten years old at that time and Graves was mostly concerned because the floor was freezing and he was only in his night shirt.

To hear it from Erik's lips makes him feel about ten years old again, with the difference that his future is looking rather more grim at the moment than just being gently escorted back to his room.

His suspicion is confirmed when Erik leads him straight to the bed, taking a seat and drawing Charles between his knees. Then the Alpha efficiently works on the buttons of his trousers, stripping them and Charles' underwear to below the target area.

"If 'I, your Alpha, told you to leave it alone' is not enough reason for you, I'm going to have to give you a stronger incentive to mind me."

With that, he turns Charles across his lap and proceeds to teach him a lesson in obedience.

Until now, words have evaded Charles entirely, but after a few swats they come back, rushing out of his mouth in apologies and pleas and promises that he will mind his Alpha, he has learned his lesson, he'll be the very picture of obedience!

"I'm glad to hear that, Liebling," Erik says calmly and cheerfully goes on roasting his bottom. "That means I must be doing something right."

Now _that_ is just plain mean, in Charles' opinion. How on earth is he supposed to respond to that? If he protests, Erik will just spank harder and if he agrees, Erik will still go on spanking for as long as he thinks appropriate.

So Charles elects to not respond at all, instead squirming and kicking his legs, trying to move his butt out of the line of fire. Sadly this proves to be as futile as it has been every single time he has landed over the knee of his Alpha in the past.

Charles could have happily gone on living his life without ever knowing what a spanked bottom feels like, if you ask him. It's neither vital, nor necessary knowledge at all. And just because Erik is stronger than him and rather old fashioned in his opinion on how to deal with one's Omega should they do something the Alpha does not approve of he is subjected to this appalling treatment. Which is _not fair_, if you ask him, but regrettably Erik doesn't.

"Ow! Erik!"

"Yes, dear?" Erik answers while still keeping up the rhythm of stinging swats.

Charles is aware that his voice sounds quite pitiful and that his breath is hitching, but if that convinces Erik he's learned his lesson he's able to let the humiliation go. "I'm sorry! Please stop!"

"We're not quite done yet, my lad."

Charles starts to sob when he feels himself being tipped forward over his Alpha's knee and the attack moving on from his bottom to his sit spots. He knows from painful experience that this will make sitting down hell for the rest of the day at least and he's not looking forward to it one bit.

After what feels like an eternity (but is in truth probably only a few minutes) Erik's heavy hand finally, finally stops falling, instead going on to rub circles over Charles' back until he's calmed down enough to breathe a little more freely again.

Then Erik lifts him up and into his arms, mindful that no pressure is put on any part of Charles' burning bottom.

They sit like that for a while, Charles clinging on to his Alpha and drinking up the comfort and reassuring words Erik mutters into his hair. At long last Erik draws back a little bit and looks Charles straight in the eye.

"If I catch you near that shed again within the next week I'm going to take a switch to you. Are we clear?"

Charles nods emphatically. "We're clear! I'm sorry, I won't even look at the shed!"

Erik smiles and kisses him. "Great. You're forgiven, honey. Now, would you like to rest for a little while?"

Charles' arms instinctively tighten around his Alpha, he's not willing to let go of him yet. He still feels quite shaken up.

Erik hugs him back. "I could stay with you?"

Charles nods against his chest and Erik kisses his hair. He gently helps Charles to restore his underwear, choosing to forgo the trousers for now. He also slips Charles' and his own shoes off their feet and manoeuvers them both expertly until they're lying under the blanket, Charles head resting on Erik's chest, Erik's arms around him.

Charles is out like a light within two minutes.

* * *

_Ehehehe. *coughs* _

_Okay, I admit, I love seeing Charles get into a little bit of harmless trouble (well – harmless for his general health, not his poor bottom). I'm sure Erik will kiss it better later that night. *coughs again*_

_So! I hope you had fun, I certainly had a blast writing it. I'm really looking forward to the upcoming chapters, too, there are so many great things to explore and people to meet! _

_The blessings are taken directly from wikipedias "List of Jewish prayers and blessings".  
I matched Charles' understanding directly with what I myself understood on first glance - I've studied a little Hebrew, too, some years ago and I'm not very proficient in it. Hopefully both Charles and I will continue to learn, it's a truly beautiful language. "ha'olam" can mean everything, all, the universe._

_Thank you all for embarking on this exciting journey with me, we'll see each other next year!_


	10. The ninth week

_Heyho lovely readers!_

_This one is rather short, but as you've been waiting for it for an embarrassingly long time already I didn't want to wait with the next update until it got longer._

_Real life has been rather difficult lately and I hope it will get better and I will have more energy and time to write._

_Thank you all for your support, favs, alerts and most of all reviews – you're all amazing people!_

_Now, enjoy!_

**No warnings.**

* * *

"Erik."

"Mmpf?"

"Are you awake?"

Erik opens one eye blearily to squint at his mate. Although Charles has been trying to whisper as quietly as possible as to not wake his Alpha, he is clearly excited. A glance at the window shows Erik that it is still well before sunrise. Charles is _never_ up at this time.

Erik sits up and rubs a hand across his face. "What's up?"

Charles grins and bounces in place a bit. "Today we go to see the houses!"

Erik has to smile at his mate's enthusiasm and tugs him into a hug. "Looking forward to it, are we?"

Charles nods against him and stays still for just a moment to hug him back, before he disentangles himself and hops down from the bed, holding out a hand to Erik.

"C'mon, I made breakfast!"

Erik shakes his head fondly. "Honey, you know we won't be looking at houses before sunrise, right?"

Charles waves his hand impatiently. "Yeah, yeah. By the time the chores are done it will be a reasonable enough time to go look at houses."

Erik gets up, it's not as if he has a problem with early mornings. It's just very amusing to see Charles bouncing in place and chattering excitedly at this hour when normally Erik has to lure him from the bed with fresh tea and he isn't up for much talk until he's downed a few cups.

Erik will enjoy it while it lasts.

It doesn't take them all that long to finish breakfast and then the morning chores and then they're off to see the houses. Erik insisted they first go to the neighbouring villages and save the ones in their own village for last so they can go straight home when they're finished. There are only six houses in total they will be looking at, but the walks between them are not really short, so they'll probably be exhausted at the end of the day.

The first one they look at is quite nice, in Erik's opinion, but Charles only takes one good look around and then politely asks the owner to please excuse them for a moment before he steps outside with Erik.

Erik rises his eyebrows at him.

"It's too small." Charles tells him. "Can we go on to the other houses?"

Erik grins and ruffles Charles' hair. "Sure. It's your money we're going to be spending."

Charles grimaces. "Technically, it's yours now. And I'm sorry if I'm rushing you, it just... it's not the right house."

Erik draws his mate into a hug. "Hey. As far as I'm concerned, it is and it stays your money and you can do with it whatever you please. And as it's me who is the head of our little household, that's my call to make. I don't care about tradition or what anyone else is thinking, okay?"

Charles nods and gives him a quick kiss, trying to move out of Erik's arms but not succeeding as Erik doesn't let go. "Also, I want to move to a house that makes you feel at home. So if you know from a first glance a house isn't going to be it, that's perfectly fine and we'll move on. All right?"

A tentative smile blossoms on Charles' face then and he leans in to Erik's embrace. "I love you, you know that?" Charles whispers against his shoulder.

Erik kisses him on the top of his head. "I know. And I love you, too. Let's wrap this up and move on, shall we?"

In the course of the morning, they look at two more houses, which both do not really convince Charles, though one is "not too bad" in his words. They stop for lunch in a tavern, which is a novelty in itself. They've never eaten out together and Charles keeps looking around curiously while they're waiting for their food.

"Have you not been in a tavern before?" Erik asks him quizzically.

Charles shrugs. "Not out in the open among other people. I wasn't travelling much to begin with and only with my family. When we did have to stop somewhere we always ended up in an extra room and a small feast laid out for us. It's nice, being able to see what's going on."

Erik smiles at his mate. He's come a far way from his first days after the heat where he would make his disdain for all things concerning village live and villagers in particular perfectly clear. (Even if he stopped running his mouth after a few well-placed swats.)

The meal is good and fresh and Charles is very gleeful about not having to do the dishes. Erik enjoys seeing him that happy rather a lot.

When they walk on to the next house, Erik gently cups Charles' face and kisses him. Charles kisses him back enthusiastically, and then draws back and smiles at Erik.

"What was that for?"

Erik smiles back. "I'm just happy to have you with me and see you enjoying yourself."

Charles' eyes take on a mischievous glint. "Well... you could see me enjoying myself everyday if you'd hire some servants to do the housework while I conduct experiments."

Erik shakes his head fondly while he walks on. "Not in our kitchen, my lad."

Charles runs to catch up with him and takes his hand. "I'd use the study, of course."

"We'll see."

Charles fells a warm and happy feeling settling over him, because that's not a no. Maybe there is hope to salvage this villager's life, after all.

The house Charles had set his hopes on is, of course, the last they look at.

Charles falls in love at first sight.

Erik smiles indulgently while Charles takes him by the hand and leads him through the whole house, pointing out everything in rising excitement.

When they arrive at the backyard, Charles' breath is momentarily taken away. Everything is so … _perfect._ All buildings are in excellent shape, there is so much space and everything is full of opportunities...

Charles has been probably staring for a few minutes when he becomes aware of Erik squeezing his hand and gently calling his name.

He blinks at his Alpha, feeling a little dazed. Erik smiles.

"All right?"

Charles nods and impulsively throws his arms around Erik's neck, whispering to his ear: "Can we buy this one?"

Erik hugs him and whispers back "Of course, Liebling."

They stay like that for a while, then Erik turns to the very patient Mr Brown who has been showing them around and announces "We'll take it. Can you have the paperwork drawn up, please?"

Mr Brown smiles and nods. "We'll have it done within the week. Thank you both, I'm sure you'll be very happy here." He shakes their hands and then leaves them to explore the backyard, outer buildings and the farmland.

There is one point when Erik goes very still and gets a faraway look on his face that Charles doesn't dare to disturb. They're in one of the outer buildings, a bright and friendly room with some sturdy work benches and a small furnace.

Charles leaves Erik to his thoughts and wanders on to the next building.

Later that evening, when they're home and laying in bed together, Charles turns inside Erik's arms. He presses kisses all over the skin of his mate, tentative at first, but becoming bolder at Erik's enthusiastic responses, whispering "Thank you" between kisses over and over.

The future is looking brighter than it ever has since the heat.

* * *

_Thanks for reading!_


	11. The tenth week

_Heyho dear readers!_

_I'm sorry this story is going so slowly, but thank you for all of your support and continued interest in it. At the end of the chapter I have some answers to reviews from not logged in readers – thank you so much, everyone who reviewed! You make my day and help me keep on track with my writing._

_This chapter is from different points of view, and its also in past tense for a change. There are a few things revealed from Erik's past which might be upsetting or triggery, please see the end notes for detailed warnings as they are also spoilers._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

_Pietro's POV, past tense_

I have been looking forward to today, because uncle Erik and uncle Charles were visiting us!

They were visiting us two weeks ago for Shabbat dinner and we had so much fun. Uncle Charles is really nice, I'm glad uncle Erik found him.

Uncle Erik was always a little sad before and now he laughs a lot more and he looks at uncle Charles like papa looks at mama. When Wanda asked if they would be having children, too, uncle Charles blushed but said that yes, if everything worked out, they would.

And uncle Erik had laughed and kissed uncle Charles then.

And today they were visiting again, and even coming earlier so we could have a whole day together not just the evening!

That was really great.

Mama wasn't awake yet when Wanda and I jumped on the bed of the parents. She often isn't awake yet when Wanda and I wake up, and then she makes these funny little noises which are meant to be shushing, I guess. But because she mumbles and is still half asleep you can't really understand it.

But that's no problem, papa always wakes up when we jump on the bed and he gets up and makes breakfast when mama is too tired to have fun and roll around in the bed with us.

Papa made _latkes_ for us and then about an hour after breakfast uncle Erik and uncle Charles arrived.

When we first visited uncle Erik and uncle Charles in their home, Wanda was a little shy and didn't speak much. But uncle Charles is so nice she soon got over it and so we got to play and have a great time with him. Uncle Erik is great for wrestling or if you like to be thrown in the air or conduct a race. But uncle Charles is a scholar, and Wanda and I haven't found a question yet he can't answer. It became a new game for us: "Ask uncle Charles..." It was lots of fun!

Today uncle Erik went off to talk with mama and papa went to work and we had uncle Charles all to ourselves. Uncle Charles had brought a book with him, and we were sitting together on the sofa and looking at it. It was a large book full of beautiful pictures of animals, called "Brehm's life of animals". Neither Wanda nor I can read very well yet, but uncle Charles read and explained the texts for us. The pictures were very beautiful and I was very impressed with doctor Brehm, who seems to lead a very exciting life. I think I'd like to be an explorer too, when I grow up. But only if mama, papa and Wanda can come along. And perhaps uncle Charles and uncle Erik, too, if they want.

Mama came through at one point, but she only went to fetch something from the parent's bedroom.

Then sometime later uncle Erik came out of the kitchen and asked us if we'd like to help mama cook. Of course that's always lots of fun and I was ready to go at once when Wanda asked "But what about you, uncle Charles? Do you want to help cook, too?"

Uncle Erik smiled at us and held out a hand to uncle Charles. "If you don't mind I'd like to take your uncle Charles away on a little walk. We'll be back in time for lunch."

"Oh, all right, then," uncle Charles said with a smile and we jumped from the sofa and raced to the kitchen to see what mama had planned for lunch.

* * *

_Ruth's POV, past tense_

While Charles took the twins to the lounge I followed Erik into the kitchen and closed the door behind us. He seemed unusually agitated.

After watching him for a while I asked "All right, what's up?"

Erik was pacing, clearly distressed. Abruptly he stopped. "Do you still have father's tools?"

"Of course I do," I answered, a little bewildered.

"Can I – can I see them?" Erik asked hesitantly and I just had to give him a hug, he looked so lost there.

"Sure, I'll get them for you."

I went through the lounge, checking on Charles and the children as I went by. They were deeply engrossed in a book Charles had brought along, it seemed to be a compendium of some sort. I left them to it and went through to our bedroom to the trunk where we store our valuables. This includes father's tools of trade.

They were in a soft leather pouch and I took a moment to remember our parents, little as I recalled about them.

Then I returned to Erik, handing him the pouch. He carefully opened it and rolled it out on the table. He reverently ran his fingers over the delicate tools.

When he looked up after a long time, I was startled to see his eyes shining with unshed tears. I went over to him and took his hand.

"Erik, Liebling. Please tell me what's the matter."

He opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to find the right words. At last he began to speak haltingly.

"The – the house we bought. There's – there's this workshop outside. And when I went in it was just like being back in father's workshop – there even is a little furnace inside – and – and – "

I hugged him again and held on this time, and he clung to me as well, slight tremors running through his frame. I was not surprised.

Our father had been a silver smith and Erik should have followed him into the trade. Father had already begun showing Erik the ropes and Erik had been so happy and proud and eager to learn.

Then came that horrible day our parents were taken from us much too soon.

At first we thought it was an accident, they were visiting relatives and had to travel through the mountainside. We only heard that the carriage had crashed down the mountain, it was rumored it was too fast in a curve. We were taken in by the business partner of our father, Klaus Schmidt.

Erik tried his best to continue his studies, though we were both numb with grief, of course.

It was years later we found out it had been no other than Schmidt who had tampered with our parents' carriage, causing them to fall to their untimely death. He had been jealous of father and his fine workmanship and the customers who preferred our kind father to the oily Schmidt.

Erik was sixteen when we found out. Schmidt had been drinking one evening and began bragging about his own cleverness and how he pulled off his nefarious plan. After Schmidt had been taken into custody by the authorities Erik got us the little house by the river and we tried to start a new life.

My brother could no longer bear to look at father's tools, he said they felt tainted by the years of study under our parents' murderer.

So he became a basket maker to support us and until Charles came into his life I worried that he would go on living his life like that. He wasn't miserable all the time, but there was an undercurrent of melancholy.

Things had definitely begun to look up with Charles, that much was evident even they first day I visited them. Erik was laughing more, he seemed more at ease and he had enough other things on his mind now so he did not brood all day. We were seeing more of Erik now, too, either visiting them in their little hut or inviting them over to our house

The twins had always loved their uncle Erik and they simply adored Charles, who was excellent with children as soon as he got over his initial uncertainty. And then the brilliant idea of Charles to buy a decent house – I could have kissed the man. And with a workshop fit for a silver smith I began to hope Erik would finally be able to return to the profession he loved most.

"So I'll just pack the tools for you, shall I? I think there are also some raw materials and half-finished pieces in our trunk."

Erik hugged me tighter at that and whispered "You're the very best sister, you know that?"

I laughed. "I bet you say that to all your sisters."

After a long while he withdrew from our embrace and smiled at me, though he was still a bit teary-eyed. "Thank you."

"You're very welcome."

He began looking a little anxious again. "I'm not sure what Charles will say about all of this..."

"Are you kidding me? That boy loves you, Erik. Of course he will support you in taking up the profession you cherish."

"You really think so?"

"I think you should talk to him so you can hear it from him directly. But I'm completely sure about it."

Erik looked at least a little reassured about this.

"Why don't you have a look how Charles and the kids are doing while I start lunch? And you can send the children to me while you take a little walk with your mate."

That brought out a smile in my brother's face and he gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, again. I'll do that."

* * *

_Charles' POV, past tense_

Erik came in and I was a little alarmed at how red-rimmed his eyes were. Since we bought the new house he had seemed like something was troubling him, but he did not want to talk about it. As I'm the last person to bother someone when he doesn't want to talk, I left him alone, hoping he'd confide in me when he felt up to it.

The preparations for moving into the new house were taking up quite a lot of time and this along the preparations of the wedding and, of course the normal workload had left us both quite busy over the last week. I was glad we made the time to visit Ruth's family. I really liked them all, especially Pietro and Wanda, they are great kids.

I was touched that Wanda thought of me in the lunch preparations, but I can't say I was disappointed to get to take a walk with Erik instead. I get to cook often enough at home, believe me.

Erik and I linked arms as we walked around the neighborhood and for a while we just enjoyed the peace and quiet.

I waited for Erik to speak what was on his mind, and after a while, he did. "I'd like to tell you something, Charles."

"Of course, Erik."

And he told me about his father and about learning how to be a silversmith and the much too soon death of his parents and everything after. I admit, I was a little stunned. I didn't know very much about Erik's past and I felt honoured and humbled that he would trust me with what must have been very painful memories.

I understood why this was on his mind when I thought back to the little workshop outside our new house with the furnace – I think it would be an ideal place for a silver smith and of course I would do anything to help Erik finally become one if he wanted to. (Not least to get these dangerous willow rods out of the house...)

When he was finished I took his face into both hands and kissed him tenderly. "Thank you for telling me. Whatever you decide you want to do now, I'll do everything to support you. I know only too well what it's like to have your dreams ripped away through circumstances."

Erik looked stunned, but then a smile broke out on his face and he kissed me back with vigour. When we finally came up for air some minutes later his eyes were shining not with tears but with something else entirely.

"If we weren't invited for lunch and if it wouldn't completely offend my sister I'd take you straight home right now to show you how much I love you."

I laughed and probably blushed. "There will be plenty of time for that later. You spoke about your father's tools? Would you show them to me?"

"Of course, Liebling. Come along, Ruth also mentioned some half-finished pieces she saved – I think you'll love to see them."

I agreed and let him tow me back to Ruth's and Samuel's house. Things really never got boring with our little family.

* * *

_**Warnings:**__ Remembering of murder, though no graphic descriptions. Also, Klaus Schmidt, better known as Sebastian Shaw. He needs a warning on his own._

_Thanks for reading!_

_To my dear reviewers who are not logged in:_

_ Angel: Wow, I'm completely overwhelmed by your wonderful and so many reviews! Thank you so much! :) I will keep going, even if it might be slow sometimes._

_ Chris: I'm so flattered! And welcome, welcome, I'm always so glad when someone from the meme finds their way over here. There have been many moments when I was surprised myself by the twists and turns of this little tale. They've got a mind of their own..._

_I hope you'll all continue to enjoy! ^_^_


	12. The twelfth week

_Hi there my lovelies!_

_Thank you for your continuing interest in this little tale, it warms my heart to see you visiting, liking and reviewing. If someone is interested in betaing this story, drop me a line, I'd appreciate it very much and it would definitely help me with faster updates (win win for all.) ^_^  
Enjoy!_

**No warnings.**

* * *

The morning sun shines through the window and Charles sneezes, which makes him wake up. He sits up and looks down at Erik who is still in the land of dreams, looking very peaceful. The last weeks have been hectic for them, and Erik insisted on doing the heavy lifting, leaving Charles to plan and direct where he wants the furniture and everything else to go. Which led to them more or less falling into bed each evening, Erik often asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

But now the new house is furnished and the plans for the wedding are coming along nicely. Ruth has shown her wedding gown to Charles (it's absolutely stunning) and introduced him to the seamstress who made the gown. Ms. Salvatore is a petite and efficient young woman who excels at her profession. Charles has discussed different options for his own wedding garments with her and he's really looking forward to seeing the finished work.

Today is the day they move into their new home, and Charles is giddy with excitement. He contemplates getting up and making breakfast for a moment, but Erik looks so nice and inviting...  
So he carefully scoots down and places feather-light kisses on Erik's forehead and eyelids and trails them downward to his mouth. Erik's mouth curling upwards in a smile is the only warning he gets before he is tackled and flipped, Erik looming over him and grinning like a shark who found an exceptionally tasty prey.  
Erik is pinning his wrists to the bed, too, and Charles' mouth goes dry with how much he wants his mate. His desperation must have shown on his face, because Erik's expression softens and he leans down with a tender kiss, whispering "Relax, Liebling, I'll take good care of you".

And he does, too, leaving Charles warm and pliant and feeling completely happy and loved.

They get up later than usual, but neither of them minds. After breakfast they pack up their belongings and load them on the wagon Mr Summers has loaned them. His eldest son Alex is there to help as well. Charles is amazed how quickly Alex and Erik disassemble the bed and the few cabinets they have. He takes care to wrap their dishes carefully and to make sure their food is securely packed as well. After the long weeks of planning and painting and furnishing, the move itself is nearly anticlimatic, done before lunchtime.

Charles is standing in their new kitchen, admiring the polished pans and pots lined up and the marvellous Aga hearth. He's contemplating what to make for their lunch, when there's a knock on the door and Ms Darkholme ("call me Raven") steps through, carrying a casserole.

She beams at Charles and sets down the dish on the counter, engulfing him in a hug. "Congratulations, Charles! Everything went well with the move, I take it?"

Charles nods and smiles at her when she steps back to admire the pristine and very well appointed kitchen. Raven is one of their new neighbors, she came to introduce herself to Charles when they began working on the house (of course, Erik already knew her). She lives next door with Ms Adler who is very regal and mysterious and a little scary in Charles' opinion, though neither Raven nor Erik seem bothered by her.

"I thought you'd probably have your hands full today, so I brought you Irene's famous lamb casserole."

"Thank you, I appreciate it. Will you convey my sincerest regards to Ms Adler?"

Raven laughs at him. "Sure will, hon. Though you know she already told you to call her Irene, right?"

Charles blushes a little. "I'll try.'' Then he claps his hands, continuing much more cheerfully, "Would you like to see the grounds? The gardens are coming along nicely."

"Oh, yes! Have you planned what crops you want yet?"

Charles beams as he begins to detail the elaborate plans he made for their garden and fields. The land is very well maintained and the soil is rich so he has no doubt they'll be able to bring in a splendid harvest. Charles feels deep and warm satisfaction at the fact that his training and all the books he studied on agriculture will make a real difference to them. In the tiny garden next to the hut had been little enough room for vegetables, let alone anything else. Now they will have whole fields of different grain, herbs, flowers and to top it off there's already a small orchard of fruit trees. Erik has admitted that he was very relieved when Charles began detailing his plans for the grounds, shyly at first, but becoming increasingly enthusiastic at Erik's obvious delight and pride in his mate.

"And here I thought you were just looking for an opportunity to stock the house with sofas and armchairs to launge around in all day", Erik had teased gently with a kiss to Charles' nose.

"Oh no", Charles had replied, a mischievous sparkle in his eye. "I plan on being a very strict overseer of the staff, constantly popping up for inspections when no one expects me."

"The staff, huh? And just how many were you planning to hire?"

"Not much, just around 30 or 40 or so - Erik, no, _stop tickling_!" Charles had shrieked with laughter. He had conceded his Alpha's superiority shortly thereafter.

Later, when they lay in bed, limbs tangled and loose Charles had told him of his actual and far more reasonable plans. Erik was full of praise for his brilliant mate. Charles was a little startled by Erik's heartfelt adoration at first (as he always is) but he has learned that Erik means what he says so any praise from him is well and truly earned.

And now his careful plans are coming along very nicely, which is a great joy to Charles.

On their way to the fields Charles and Raven stop by Erik's workshop, where the Alpha is busy arranging his tools. He looks up when they enter and smiles fondly at his mate.

Raven, who has known Erik's face as a stony mask for years, can't help but feeling amazed at how much good Charles has done him. She's not sure Charles is aware of the extent of his good influence.

Erik draws Charles close for a hug and a kiss, before extending his hand to Raven.

"Hello neighbour. How nice of you to drop by. Charles is showing you the grounds?"

Raven smiles as she shakes his hand. "Yes, we were going to see the gardens and such. Charles tells me he already has plans what to bring out."

Erik flashes a shark like grin at his mate. "Oh, he has plans, alright. With the amount of spreadsheets and timetables we have we could renovate half the house."

Charles shrugs unrepentantly. "When we have been gifted with such a wonderful opportunity the least we should do is planning carefully and having a proper business plan."

Erik kisses his temple with a laugh. "Go on with you, my little entrepreneur. I'll call you when lunch is ready."

"Oh, Ms Ad-, um, Irene sent us her lamb casserole, you'll just need to reheat it."

Erik smiles warmly at Raven. "Thank you, and thanks to Irene, of course. That's really thoughtful of her."

Raven waves him off. "We're so happy to have you near us, and Irene always cooks enough to share."

After Erik gives his mate another kiss they're off to see the gardens and Charles maps out his plans with animated gestures. Raven is fascinated by this young man who captured Erik's heart. She is looking forward very much to having them as neighbours.

* * *

It's their first night in the new house and Charles is not quite relaxed next to Erik. The Alpha tries to calm his mate by tucking him near and rubbing a soothing hand up and down his flank, and it works somewhat.

After a long while, Charles whispers "Erik?"

"Yes, Liebling?"

"Can I ask you something?"

Erik gathers Charles in his arms, because he sounds quite unsure of himself. "Of course, honey."

Charles swallows and when he goes on his voice is barely above a whisper. "Could we... could we keep the ... um ... discipline ... out of the bedroom?"

Erik hugs him and presses a kiss to his hair. "We can definitely do that. Did you have another room in mind?"

Charles relaxes against him and some of his usual humor comes back. "Well, in an ideal scenario we wouldn't need any room at all..."

Erik chuckles. "And in the extremely unlikely case we should need a room after all?"

He feels Charles smile against him. "The little ante-room next to this?"

"All right, that sounds good. Thank you for talking to me."

Charles presses a kiss to the underside of Erik's jaw. "Thanks for being understanding." Then he sighs contentedly and burrows deeper into the arms of his Alpha, who rumbles approvingly.

This, Charles thinks as he drifts of to sleep, is a really good start for living here.

* * *

_Thank you for stopping by. Have a nice day!_

_Km who reviewed some time ago: Thank you! I'm glad you're having fun with the story, I'm definitely having fun writing it._

_All comments are as always much appreciated._


	13. The fourteenth week

_Welcome ba~ack!_

_I'm so excited for the further development of this story! Next chapter we will finally, finally get to one of my favourite scenes and meet one great character from XMFC._

_In preparation for this, we're having a poll, lovely readers, about how many children Charles should have during this current pregnancy, what gender and what names they should have._

_Come and vote plenty, this is your chance to influence the story!_

_You can find the poll at my profile page. _

_When you choose "other constellations" you can review for the names or what you'd like to see._

_But this chapter we also finally get to meet another favourite character of mine, OC this time... as well as some other beloved X-Men First Class Cast. Enjoy!_

* * *

Charles is tidying up from breakfast when there's a knock on the door.

He opens the door with a polite smile. "Good morning, how can I... _Stevenson_?"

The valet smiles at Charles' incredulous look. "Good morning, my Lord. Would it please you to entertain her Ladyship this morning?"

"Aunt Muriel is here?" Charles asks weakly. He feels ready to faint. Or hyperventilate. Or both.

The house is reasonably tidy and he just polished the floors yesterday, so he wouldn't have a problem inviting guests from the village in. But this is Lady Muriel, Dowager Duchess of Flintshire and they don't even have a formal tea room let alone an appropriate tea service and - oh God, he's really gonna faint.

Stevenson catches him before he hits the floor and guides him over to a kitchen chair. Then, like the competent valet he is, he goes in search of a washcloth and when he finds it, wets it and presses it to Charles' neck.

This very efficiently rouses Charles from his haze and he blinks at Stevenson, who hands him a glass of water. Charles downs it gratefully, feeling more alert by the minute.

"Thank you, Stevenson. I must admit, I'm a little overwhelmed by this visit of her Ladyship. Could you do me a favour?"

"Of course, my Lord."

"Could you go to the workshop and fetch Erik, my Alpha? It's right through that door on the other side of the yard."

"Certainly, my Lord. I'll be right back."

Charles nods absent-mindedly and closes his eyes for a moment while Stevenson fetches Erik.

Charles loves his Aunt Muriel, he really does. She's the only one of his relatives who ever showed any interest in his scientific studies and recommended many books to him. She also introduced him to members of the Royal Society, for which he will be eternally grateful. She is his great aunt, the sister of Lady Sharon's mother, and she lives quite some distance away. Still she and Charles have always gotten along splendidly and some of his fondest memories are of the holidays he spent at Flintshire estate with her.

He thought he'd never see her again.

After the heat and becoming the mate of a peas... um, a craftsman and getting disinherited he thought that part of his life was well and truly over.

He's not quite sure how he feels about seeing Lady Muriel again, especially in their humble abode.

Before he can get too worked up about it though, Erik rushes in and immediately bends down to have a good look at Charles. Stevenson, discreet as he is, has stayed behind in the courtyard.

"Are you all right, honey?" he asks while tenderly smoothing back a strand of hair from Charles' face.

That brings out a small smile on the Omega's face and he stands up for a hug which Erik gladly provides.

"I feel better now with you here", Charles mumbles quietly into Erik's shirt and feels Erik press a kiss to his hair.

"Of course, Liebling."

Erik continues to gently sway them a little and Charles feels himself relaxing more and more.

At long last he draws back and smiles at his mate. "Thank you. I needed that."

Erik smiles back at him and gives him a kiss. "Anytime, honey. I gather by this man calling you 'my Lord' that he's from the staff in Westchester?"

Charles shakes his head. "He's the personal valet of my great Aunt Muriel, Dowager Duchess of Flintshire. He came to ask if it would please us to entertain her Ladyship this morning."

Erik raises an eyebrow at his mate. "And would it please you to do that?"

Charles shrugs a little helplessly. "I'm ... not quite sure? On the one hand, I really like Aunt Muriel, she's by far the most pleasant of my relatives and I never thought I'd see her again, so this is a really great surprise. On the other hand..."

He swallows and takes another look around their kitchen.

Charles feels miserable. He has been so proud to move into this beautiful house with Erik, he worked really hard at furnishing it and making it a home where they both feel comfortable. It's a gigantic step up from the little hut by the river (though now he doesn't have to live there full time Charles can look back on it fondly and call it cosy rather than shabby) and it's a very fine house for respectable farmers as they now are.

It is, of course, no castle.

They don't have a formal tea room, they mostly eat in the kitchen (though there is a dining room that sits twelve comfortably should they wish to entertain guests for dinner) and everything about the interior points to honourable craftsmen or farmers with perhaps a little better taste than most villagers instead of former nobility.

Up until now, Charles has felt completely at home here.

Now he can't help but dread what Aunt Muriel might think about him and the live he made for himself.

Erik draws him out of his morose thoughts with a kiss. "Hey. You're not alone in this, I'm with you. Say the word and we'll send your aunt away. Or if you'd like to invite her in and she says something unfriendly about our home, I can throw her right out again."

Charles has to smile at that and kisses Erik back. "All right, let's invite her in. Can you put the kettle on? We're going to need proper tea."

* * *

The first introduction goes rather well, in Charles' opinion. Lady Muriel is genuinely happy to see him and to see he's doing well for himself.

She is very polite to Erik, too, but that doesn't surprise Charles, she was always someone to look beyond the social status and judge people by their character.

They're sitting down to tea and biscuits in the sitting room. After some pleasant conversation, Lady Muriel turns to Erik with a smile.

"I hope my grand-nephew has not been given you too much trouble, Mr. Lehnsherr? He does need a firm hand now and then."

"Aunt Muriel!" Charles yelps in mortification.

Erik's smile turns icy and he tugs Charles next to his side protectively. "If you'd kindly refrain from further slandering my mate I'd be much obliged, my Lady."

Lady Muriel laughs warmly at that. "Oh, you'll do just fine." She pats Charles' hand apologetically. "Sorry, Charles, but I had to make sure your mate protects you as he should."

Charles looks from her to Erik and sees that his Alpha has his Shark grin on again. Charles shakes his head incredulously. "You two are impossible. You know what? You can go on and arrange among yourselves who is the superior Alpha. I'm going to the fields, I've got an irrigation system to plan."

Erik kisses him before letting him go. "I'll call you and the boys when lunch is ready. Have fun!"

Charles goes in search of Alex, who they took on as farm hand to the delight of his father Mr. Summers. Alex does not make many words, but he is strong and hard-working and has been a great help to Charles. He and Erik get along splendidly, even though Charles wonders if they communicate telepathically because they hardly ever say two words to each other. Perhaps there's a secret language of shrugs and grunts the silent, broody Alphas get initiated in which Charles isn't privy to.

Along with Alex, they also have Sean and Armando as farm hands, and under Charles' guidance they've managed to bring out all crops already. Alex' father is the blacksmith of the village and between him and Erik Charles hopes they're able to manufacture all the pipes and connections needed for the irrigation system.

Charles and Alex spend a productive morning drawing up detailed plans and discussing their options, while Sean and Armando are weeding and watering the vegetable garden with the help of Stevenson. Charles told the valet he wasn't expected to perform the work of a farm hand, but Stevenson assured him he enjoyed the change.

Erik calls them in for lunch at noon, and Lady Muriel is very charming to the boys, which helps them get over their initial shyness at meeting nobility. Well, Alex and Armando are shy at first, Sean is the most laid back person Charles ever met and just smiles at her distractedly.

Erik and Lady Muriel seem to have come to an understanding as well, which relieves Charles rather a lot.

As usual they have a longer break at noon to avoid the heat of the midday sun and the boys are free to do what they please in the next few hours.

Charles and Erik are retreating back to the sitting room with Lady Muriel, which has the most comfortable settees. Stevenson insists on being the one to serve the tea and Charles in exchange insists he join them when he's finished with serving which he accepts after a nod from her Ladyship.

"So, Charles. Your mate was so friendly to show us around this very nice house of yours and I noticed a distinct lack of books in your library."

Charles blushes and looks down on his hands. Erik draws him next to his side and presses a kiss to his temple.

Lady Muriel lays a consoling hand on her grand nephew's knee. "Darling, I don't want to embarrass you. I only wanted to know what I can do to help."

Charles shrugs uncomfortably. "You don't need to do anything, Aunt Muriel. I guess I'll start a new collection slowly if the harvest is good. Right now the farm has priority over my scientific studies."

Lady Muriel frowns. "What do you mean, a new collection? What about your books in Westchester?"

"Charles' relatives there disinherited him and allowed him to take only one bag of possessions." Erik says grimly.

"I'm going to have a serious conversation with Sharon about that kind of atrocious behaviour. But Charles, the most she and Kurt can do is take away you inheritance. The books you already collected are not part of that, as you bought them with your own money. They have no right to keep them."

Charles looks up at that, a little tendril of hope flaring up in his eyes. "You really think so? But... I can hardly just walk into Westchester and take half the library with me."

Lady Muriel shakes her head and smiles warmly at him. "Do not concern yourself with this, darling. I'll contact my solicitor and have everything arranged."

Unexpected tears spring to Charles' eyes at hearing this. He knows his aunt will take care of things, she's a force to be reckoned with.

He never thought he'd have another chance to see his books and journals and... everything again, short of starting the collection all over (and that could very well take years).

Charles is too overwhelmed by the sheer possibilities which are presenting themselves to be able to keep his composure.

"Excuse me" is all he gets out before fleeing outside. He goes straight for the orchard and just wanders between the trees, trying to calm down.

There have been many times in the last months when he wished to have his comfortable life in Westchester back (often after a day filled with hard, menial work or when Erik has been especially unreasonable like insisting he stand up in the morning despite the bed being so comfy).

But now he realizes he doesn't want to go back to Westchester. Yes, he had all the comforts money could buy and could mostly do whatever he wanted with his time and did not have to lift a finger if he didn't want to.

But he wouldn't trade Erik for the world. Having someone who makes him feel so loved and whom he loves so fiercely in return is something Charles never even knew he could have.

And he realizes his former life and his current one are not so easy to reconcile. There's a lot of emotional attachment to all his carefully collected possessions which are still in Westchester (if Kurt hasn't sold them by now). Charles resolves to talk this through with Erik later.

He's relieved they chose a large room for the library, because the space is going to be needed, if Lady Muriel's plan works out.

Pondering over all the books he'll hopefully get back and mentally categorizing them calms him down enough that he feels able to face company again.

First he goes to their bathroom (in Erik's opinion very lavishly furnished, with indoor plumbing and everything, in comparison to the Westchester bathrooms rather simple) and washes his face. A critical look in the mirror shows him he does not look too blotchy so he takes a deep breath and returns to the sitting room.

Erik gives him a questioning look and silently holds out his arm so Charles can curl up at his side, which he gratefully does. Charles whispers "We'll talk later" in Erik's ear and his Alpha just nods and kisses his temple.

The conversation flows pleasantly around him and it isn't long until Lady Muriel takes her leave, promising to keep in contact via letters.

"And if you two want to get away for your honeymoon, you're very welcome in Flintshire," she tells them cordially.

Charles hugs her tightly and thanks her for everything.

"You're very welcome, Charles. And you can write to me any time or send a messenger if you need me urgently and I'll come up, all right?"

Charles smiles at her. "Thank you, I appreciate that."

Lady Muriel shakes Erik's hand next. "I'm very pleased to have made your acquaintance, Mr. Lehnsherr. Thank you for taking good care of Charles."

Erik inclines his head politely. "It's my pleasure, my Lady."

They wave after the carriage until it's gone from their view.

When Erik closes the door, Charles slumps against him. "That was draining."

Erik gives him a kiss on the forehead. "What do you say, we give the boys the afternoon off and just relax?"

"That sounds really good."

Charles tidies up the tea service while Erik goes to tell the boys about their changed plans. Apparently Armando would like to cook dinner, which Erik gladly accepts. Then they both retire to the bedroom and Erik just holds Charles close.

Charles lays his head down on Erik's shoulder, feeling emotionally exhausted. He resolves to tell Erik all about his ambiguous feelings later. For now, he just savours the closeness and warmth of his mate. It doesn't take long for him to drift off to sleep.

* * *

_I love Aunt Muriel._

_I hope you enjoyed, thanks for all your patience. Reviews are as always very welcome, and don't forget to vote on the poll! :)_

_See you next chapter, lovelies!_


	14. The seventeenth week

_**Chapter 14 - The seventeenth week**_

_Welcome back, dear readers!_

_I've got to admit, I got a little distracted with other projects (Real life and fanfiction both) until the lovely Yoko_chan012 over on AO3 brought my attention back._

_Sorry for the long wait!_

_Also, thank you everyone who voted in the poll, there was a clear preference for twins Anya and David, yay! (Poor Charles. But everything will work out fine.)_

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Erik's heart nearly stops when he walks into the library and sees his Omega balancing precariously on a chair set on a low table, stretching to reach the topmost shelf to place some books there.

With a great deal of willpower he manages to suppress his impulse to yell at his foolish mate, lest he startles him into falling down his rickety construction. Instead he strides towards Charles as fast as he can, grabs him around the middle and lifts him down from his precarious position.

Charles yelps in surprise, but relaxes when he realizes it's Erik whose arms he's in and leans back against his mate.

Once he's on solid ground he turns inside Erik's arms and leans up for a kiss. "Hello, darling. What can I do for you?"

Erik grits his teeth, squeezes his eyes shut and silently counts to ten in every language he knows, because he doesn't want to yell in Charles' face, even if he deserves it. He doesn't let go of his mate, though, needing to feel that he's safe and sound and not about to tumble down to the floor any moment now.

When he opens his eyes again Charles looks rather cautious, biting his lip and wringing his hands nervously.

"You, young man," Erik begins as calmly as he is able too, "Can march your butt upstairs to the ante-room and wait for me there."

Charles eyes widen in shock and he instinctively comes a step closer to his Alpha, even if he is clearly upset with him right now.

Erik's arms tighten around his Omega and he hooks his chin on top of Charles' head. Having Charles in his arms unharmed helps to calm him down considerably, so he is able to speak in a reasonable manner after a few minutes.

"What on earth were you thinking, balancing on that chair? We've got a perfectly good ladder in the workshop! And anyway, you are the last person around here who should climb on anything! What if you'd had fallen down?"

Charles grimaces against Erik's chest. He's in _so deep_ trouble.

"I'm sorry, Erik, I didn't think. I just wanted to get the sorting done..." he trails off, very aware that his excuse is flimsy at best.

Erik draws back and takes him by the shoulders, speaking firmly but with understanding. "I believe that at once. The problem is, when you're distracted you very seldom stop to think if something might be dangerous for you. So I'm going to give you a lasting reminder why to do so in the future." He leans forward for a kiss and Charles responds urgently, just wanting to get on Erik's good side again.

After a far too short time for Charles' liking, Erik ends their kiss and turns him around sternly. "Now, up to the ante-room with you. I'll be up shortly." He sends Charles on his way with a sharp swat and the Omega feels too dejected to even protest.

Erik looks after him and takes a few deep breaths. For someone so brilliant, Charles can act astonishingly obtuse sometimes.

He takes down the chair from the little table and returns both to their rightful places with a little more force than necessary.

Then he goes to the fields where the boys are diligently digging the ditches for the irrigation system and waves Armando over.

"What's up, boss?" Armando asks pleasantly when he's near enough to speak.

"Can you make sure you boys stay away from the bedrooms for the next hour or so? Charles and I need to have a little … discussion."

Armando smiles wryly. "Sure thing boss. Just..." he hesitates, but goes on when Erik motions for him to continue with a smile. "Don't be too harsh on the Prof, yeah?"

Erik huffs in amusement. "He'll live. Have fun digging and make sure you drink enough."

Armando grins and gives him a sloppy salute before returning to his fellow farm hands. Erik shakes his head fondly as he returns to the house. The boys all love Charles dearly (who wouldn't) and often fuss about him more than Erik. Sean is the one who first came up with the nickname "Prof" when Charles went into one of his long-winded explanations at the dinner table. It's a sign of deep respect mixed with a lot of fondness from the boys.

Charles has lived up to this name even more since his precious books arrived last week. Aunt Muriel has been true to her word and gotten all of Charles' belongings out of Westchester and delivered to them.

It's mostly books, but also some very delicate lab equipment which was packed meticulously and which Charles has carefully stored in one of the up until now unused spaces in the outbuildings, rubbing his hands gleefully at the prospect to take up his experiments again. There also have been a lot of clothes. Most of which are stored securely in trunks in the attic as they're much too formal for everyday wear.

And there has been Erik's favourite, Charles' stallion Max. He's a true beauty, black coat and fiery eyes and he can eat up the miles in a gallop as if he's flying. They have already gotten multiple enquires from the village and beyond if he's available for breeding and Charles has had lively discussions with the owners of several mares about the benefits or disadvantages of a union. Erik leaves him to it, because that is one of the many fields Charles' expertise surpasses his own.

It's really quite curious why someone so knowledgable and experienced in so many fields as Charles is should have such difficulties with the simple concept of keeping himself out of harm's way.

But Erik intends to get to the bottom of this matter sooner or later. And he's sure he'll make a good headway today.

He hesitates shortly outside of his workshop – he still has some items of wicker furniture to finish which are commissioned pieces and because of that there are still plenty of switches at his disposal – but decides the carpet beater will leave a serious enough impression for today.

He steels himself as he climbs up the stairs and walks to the little ante-room next to their bedroom. Erik hasn't had to send Charles there for discipline yet since they've moved in, a few discreet swats have been enough to grab the Omega's attention on the occasions he's been mouthy or contrary. In fact, when he thinks back, he's never made Charles wait for punishment before, but on this occasion he simply has needed to calm down before he deals with his mate.

Charles is probably a bundle of nerves by now, Erik thinks, and sure enough, when he steps through the door he finds himself with an armful of sobbing Omega almost immediately.

"Hey, hey honey, it's all right," Erik soothes, picking up his distraught mate and walking to the settee they have in here. Charles' legs instinctively wrap around Erik's waist and his arms wind around his Alpha's neck like Erik is his only chance to keep from drowning. Erik sits down with Charles in his lap and continues to gently sway them and murmur comforting words into Charles' hair until the Omega's grip looses some of his desperation.

After a long while Charles sits up and wipes his sleeve over his downcast eyes. "Sorry" he mumbles hoarsely. "I hate it when you're cross with me."

Erik gently lifts his chin up and kisses him. "You never need to apologize for expressing your feelings, Liebling." Then he fishes a handkerchief from his pocket and tenderly dries Charles' tears, drawing him back into his arms and resting the side of his face on top of Charles' head when he's finished. They stay like that for some time, neither of them in a hurry to move.

"Do we really have to... you know?" Charles asks tentatively after a few minutes.

"Yes, Charles, we really do. Endangering your health or safety will always earn you a trip across my knee. I'm going to make sure you'll think twice about climbing up anything unstable when we're finished here." Erik states seriously and squeezes Charles a little tighter, shuddering when the image of Charles balancing on that ridiculous construction appears back before his mind's eye.

Charles sighs resignedly and sits up once more, just wanting to get it over with at this point. "All right," he says in a small voice.

Erik kisses his temple before helping him stand up. "My brave mate. I'd like you to fetch the carpet beater please."

Charles turns pitiful blue eyes to his Alpha, which appear even bigger by the tears still shining in them. Erik just shakes his head and points to where Charles' nemesis hangs innocently on its nail by the door. "Now, please."

Charles walks like a man on his way to the gallows, his steps slowing as he nears the dreadful item. He swallows and takes it down from the wall quickly, then holds it in his outstretched hand as far away from his body as he can on his way back to Erik.

Erik leans forward and takes the carpet beater from Charles' trembling hand as soon as he's in reach, laying it down on the settee to his right. "Thank you, Charles."

He draws his mate between his knees and runs soothing hands up and down the Omega's flanks for a moment, before unbuttoning Charles' trousers and tucking them down along with his undergarments. Then he helps Charles lay down over his left knee, making sure his torso rests on the settee comfortably and securing Charles' legs between his own. They're going to be here a while.

And then Erik sets on leaving his mate with a thorough impression of just what he thinks about Charles' endangering himself. Even though he starts with his hand, it's completely sufficient to light a considerable fire in Charles' bottom.

The Omega starts to sob nearly from the beginning, having been already emotionally exhausted before they even started.

He still chokes out answers as best as he can when Erik asks him a question, like "What will you do when you need to reach a high shelf in the future?" "Get a ladder! Erik, pleeease..." or "Will you ever climb on any furniture again without anyone else in the room?" "No, I promise!".

Erik doesn't stop until Charles' bottom is red and hot to the touch and even then it's just for a small respite.

"Now. I'm going to give you twelve more with the carpet beater, and then we'll be done. I don't expect that we will have to revisit this particular issue in the near future, but if we do, you'll get the whole spanking with the beater. Are we clear?"

"Y-yes, we're c-clear!" Charles sobs, his breath hitching.

"Good." Erik tucks Charles more securely against his middle and raises the carpet beater shoulder high, bringing it down with considerable force.

Charles shrieks and begins to struggle in earnest, desperately trying to move his butt out of the line of fire.

He gets nowhere, of course, finally going limp after Erik's last swat and burying his head in his folded arms, crying his heart out.

Erik rubs his hand over Charles' heaving back and gives him a few minutes to calm down, softly speaking words of reassurance and love. When Charles' breath has returned to somewhat near normal Erik carefully helps him up and out of his tangled trousers. Then Erik gathers him in his arms, walking the few feet to their bedroom and gently laying down with Charles in his arms. Charles holds on to him like a limpet, fresh tears springing from his eyes. He's apologizing hoarsely and very sincerely and Erik tells him that everything is forgiven with lots of consoling kisses.

Erik's shirt is positively soaked by now, but he doesn't care in the slightest. He's just glad to have his mate in his arms in one piece. Hopefully this lesson will stick. He doesn't know what he'd do if something happened to Charles.

It doesn't take long for Charles to fall into a light sleep and Erik is content to just hold him.

* * *

It's a few days later in the evening. Charles is sitting in one of the comfortable armchairs in the library with one of his very precious books, glad to have some time for reading after the day's chores are done. _And glad to be able to finally sit comfortably again_, he thinks with a rueful grin. He certainly won't be climbing on any furniture again in the foreseeable future. In the end, Alex and Armando shelved the books for him, standing (of course) on the ladder, after he sorted them in the order he wanted them and handed them up to the boys.

"Charles?"

Charles looks up at Erik who has stepped into the room, looking thoughtful.

"Yes?"

"I was thinking... perhaps you would like to accompany me to the market tomorrow? There's someone in Whitchurch I'd like you to meet."

Charles closes his book and comes to his feet, very curious now. "And who might that be?"

Erik holds out a hand to him and Charles comes willingly and accepts his mate's embrace.

"A very nice young man."

"There are plenty of young men in the village," Charles points out. Not that he gets along with all of them – seeing as they are mere peasants, no wonder. (And yes, he has promised Erik not to use that word anymore, but that doesn't change the fact that he is, indeed, surrounded by peasants from all sides). Except their farmhands, they are great boys.

Erik smiles and stoops for a kiss. "This one is different. I'm sure you two will get on very well."

Charles considers this. "How far is that?"

"Just under five miles. We can take the waggon."

They bought a sturdy waggon as well as a Shire mare named Elise for the farm work. Max as a Thoroughbred would have been wasted on the heavy work, but he is very appreciative of the new addition to his stable, and already began courting Elise.

Charles smiles up at Erik. "All right."

"Great. Then you can get ready for bed now, we're leaving early."

"Erik! I was reading!" Charles protests at once.

Erik smiles and kisses him again and then turns him around with a gentle swat. "Go on, I don't want you grumpy tomorrow morning because you didn't get enough sleep."

Charles' expression closely resembles a pout, but he does as he's told and washes up and puts on his nightshirt, if rather grudgingly. Then he spends the time it takes Erik to get ready for bed reading, only surrendering his book when Erik climbs under the covers with him.

"I'm never grumpy," he informs his mate. Erik just laughs and kisses him again before he blows out the candle next to the bed.

"Of course not, darling. Go to sleep."

* * *

Erik mentally congratulates himself the next morning on his forethought.

Instead of the muffled complaints or pleas for just five more minutes which he usually hears when waking Charles he sees his Omega's sweet, sleepy smile and gets a hug, too.

"Maybe we should try an earlier bedtime more often, if it leaves you in such a good mood," Erik muses at their very early breakfast. They let the boys sleep in so it's just them in the kitchen.

That raises one of Charles' extremely rare suggestive smiles. "So long as we don't have to sleep right away – " he breaks off and slaps a hand over his mouth, looking very shocked and a little worried at his own boldness. Erik can see a quite fetching blush spreading rapidly over his cheeks and he quickly reaches across the table and takes Charles' hand.

"We can do whatever we want in this very comfortable bed you bought, day and night, any time. All right?"

Charles looks a bit uncertain at first, but the warmth of Erik's eyes and the reassuring squeeze of his hand seem to help a lot.

"All right," he agrees shyly.

On impulse, Erik asks, "Would now seem like a good time for you?"

Charles blushes even more furiously, and bites his lip, but after some hesitation he actually manages a tiny nod.

Erik feels a feral grin breaking out on his face, the one Charles says always reminds him of a shark and picks up his mate without further ado, carrying him up the stairs to their bedroom.

Charles muffles his delighted laughter in Erik's shirt as to not to wake the boys.

Erik congratulates himself even more that he woke them with lots of time to spare.

* * *

They make good time on their way to Whitchurch, even if they have to take a little time to calm down Max first, who made it very clear that they better bring back Elise in a timely fashion.

When they arrive in town Erik first directs their waggon not to the market place but to another street until they reach a house with the sign of a midwife.

Charles turns to his Alpha, becoming a little worried. "That's the young man you'd like me to meet? A midwife?"

Erik draws him near in a sideways hug. "Honey, I won't leave you alone unless you want me to. But Hank is very good at his profession and it's high time you had a check up. Don't you want to make sure everything is all right with the baby?"

Charles shrugs uncertainly. Mostly he's tried to not to think about his pregnancy. Although they do have a beautiful nursery in their new home and Erik has woven a lovely wicker cradle which will come to stand in their bedroom eventually, he's still quite unsure about becoming a father.

Having a check up makes it all so real. But of course Erik is right, he's over four months along now and it's only prudent to make sure the baby is doing well. So he sits up with a sigh and draws back his shoulders. "Okay, let's do this."

Erik gives him a kiss. "Thank you. Let me just park the waggon, then we'll go on in."

The young man meets them at the door after they ring the bell. He's tall, with brown hair and thick glasses and he holds out his hand with a smile.

"Welcome, welcome. I'm Henry McCoy, but you can call me Hank. You must be Charles, Erik told me lots about you."

Charles gives Erik a slightly suspicious look but shakes Hank's hand nonetheless. "Charles Xavier, pleased to meet you. How do you two know each other?"

Hank ushers them inside his house, leading them to a cosy sitting room. "Oh, I was Ruth's midwife, too. Erik was staying with them for a while when she was nearing her due date and after the birth to help with everything. That's when we met. How is family Silverstein, by the way?"

Erik smiles as he accepts the cup of tea Hank hand him. "Thank you, they're very well. They send their love, especially the twins."

Charles is a little distracted by the huge bookshelves nearly filling one wall of the room, but accepts his cup of tea with a polite thanks as well.

They chat amiably for a little while and Charles soon warms up to Hank when he confirms the midwife is as avid a collector of books as himself and well versed in the current scientific developments.

Erik smiles fondly at his mate, happy to see him enjoying himself. He leans over for a kiss. "Honey, I need to get going to get the booth set up. Will you be all right here?"

Charles hesitates for a moment, but nods and smiles at his Alpha, kissing him back in return. "I'll be fine. I'll come find you when I'm done, okay?"

Erik nods and gently brushes a lock of hair back from Charles' face. "Please do. Have fun!" After another kiss goodbye, Erik takes his leave and the Omegas are left to themselves.

They discuss various articles in scientific journals they've both read until the teapot is empty. Hank leans forward with an encouraging smile. "Would you like to see the exam room?"

Charles feels a little apprehensive but nods nonetheless. He can always leave and come back later with Erik, he tells himself.

The exam room is very friendly looking, with big, south facing windows which let in a lot of sunlight, comfortable armchairs by the fireplace and a big bed with soft blankets on it. Everything is fresh and clean but still inviting.

Hank explains what the exam will consist of and answers all of Charles' questions without hurry. He invites Charles to sit down on the bed to see how it feels and if he's comfortable with proceeding.

Charles has some more questions, but falls silent eventually, biting his lip as he thinks how to bring up what's on his mind. Hank is waiting patiently, having sat down besides Charles on the bed.

"Hank, can I ask you something?" Charles asks, very quietly.

The midwife nods to him. "Go ahead."

"Suppose... someone who is after the first month of pregnancy wanted to... or needed to... you know..." Charles falters and looks away. _How stupid! We could have been friends and now he'll hate me for even suggesting something like... that._

Charles startles when he feels Hank's arm around his shoulder and is drawn against the side of the other Omega.

"Hey, it's all right. You're not the first to ask and I'm not offended." Hank tells him softly.

Charles swallows. "I – I'm mostly over it now, I think, but when I first found out about the pregnancy, all I could think about was how to … make it go away."

Hank nods. "There are ways, of course. But even with the best possible preparation and really scrupulous sanitation, there is still a risk of infection. And the even greater risk that the patient will be unable to conceive afterwards. I try to avoid it, whenever possible."

Charles looks up. "But you've done it before?"

Hank nods again. "I have. Sometimes it's the only way to save the life of the parent. And even if there are other reasons, I'd rather the person in question came to me instead of trying on their own or in some place less sanitary."

Charles hugs him spontaneously. "Thank you. I don't think I'll ask that of you – but it's such a relief nonetheless."

Hank smiles. "Shall we move on to happier themes?"

Charles smiles back a bit weakly. "Yes please. Can we do the exam now? I'm afraid I'll lose my nerve if we wait any longer."

Hank gives him a concerned look. "You can also come back with Erik later?"

Charles shakes his head. "No, it's fine. I'd rather get it over with."

Hank squeezes his shoulder encouragingly and stands up, clapping his hands. "All right. First of all, I'm going to wash my hands. I have a gown you can change into behind this folding screen, if you'd like, but you don't have to."

Charles shrugs and curiously follows Hank to the washstand. Hank first takes boiling water from a kettle which is hanging in the fireplace and pours it into his washbowl, then adds just enough cold water that he doesn't scald himself. Then he takes the soap and a little brush and begins to vigorously clean his hands.

If there had been any trace of doubt left in Charles' mind about Hank's proficiency it is completely eradicated when he sees how meticulously he scrubs his hands.

"You're very thorough!" Charles exclaims, impressed.

Hank nods and goes right on scrubbing. "That's a necessary precaution. Have you had the opportunity to study the works of Professor Semmelweiss in Germany? He claims that more than half of the deaths in childbed could be easily avoided if the midwives just washed their hands properly."

Charles' eyes go very round.

"Can you pass me that soap?" he blurts and Hank does so, laughing.

By the time they've both finished washing their hands Charles is much more relaxed. He changes into the loose gown Hank hands him and lifts his arms as directed when Hank goes to measure his abdominal girth.

Hank raises his eyebrows a moment when he sees the result and asks "When exactly was your heat?"

Charles tells him the date – it was a little over seventeen weeks ago now.

"Mhm, okay, let's get you on the scales." When Hank is finished weighing Charles (who doesn't look to see the results, he already feels like he's well on his way to become a whale, no need to fortify that belief with facts) a small smile plays on his lips.

"Can you lay down for me?" He asks next and Charles makes himself comfortable on the bed. Hank takes some cream and warms it up between his hands before carefully palpating Charles' abdomen.

"Everything looks fine," he assures the other Omega with a smile. "Now I'm going to listen for the heartbeat, all right?"

Charles nods and sits up a little against the pillows to better see what Hank does.

The midwife fetches a stethoscope from a cabinet near the wall and warms up the bell before gently pressing it to Charles' belly.

He listens intensely for a few minutes, changing the position of the bell repeatedly and then nods with a smile.

"All right, everything is fine. I've got a surprise for you, do you want to hear it?" He sits down on the bed next to Charles and takes his hand.

Charles licks his lips which feel very dry. "Let's hear it."

"You're having twins, Charles! Congratulations."

Charles blanches.

_Oh, it's good I'm already on a soft bed, _is his last thought before everything becomes black around him.

* * *

Erik is in conversation with a customer, when he sees Hank striding up to him quickly.

"Excuse me," he tells the customer, not waiting for his answer and nearly runs to meet up with the midwife.

"What happened?"

Hank lays a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down, Charles is fine. He just got a little overwhelmed and fainted for a second. But he's completely recovered now!" Hank adds quickly when he sees Erik's alarm.

Erik increases his tempo even more and it takes them less than a minute to be back at Hank's home which is only two streets away from the market place.

The Alpha takes a breath outside the door because he doesn't want to barge in and startle Charles further. He gestures for Hank to open the door and follows him in. Hank leads him not to the sitting room but to a door a little further down the corridor. Erik realizes it must be the exam room when he sees Charles sitting against the headboard of a big bed, propped up with lots of pillows and cradling a mug in his hands.

Charles' eyes light up when he sees his mate and Erik is next to him within seconds, first placing the mug on a nearby table and then sitting down on the bed and lifting Charles into his lap.

Charles wraps his arms around him and holds on tightly and Erik is perfectly happy just holding him close and drawing calming patterns on his back.

"Hey, Liebling," he murmurs with a kiss to Charles' hair after a long while. "Feeling better?"

Charles nods against him. "I want you there for the next exams," he tells Erik quietly.

"Done. Want to tell me what happened?"

Charles draws back a little and looks up in Erik's eyes searchingly. "Say... you really like Pietro and Wanda, yes?"

Erik smiles. "I love them."

"Um … how would you feel if we … had a pair of our own?"

It takes Erik a second to comprehend what he's hearing but then a delighted grin breaks out across his face.

"_Twins_? We're having twins, really?"

A tentative smile appears on Charles' lips. "Yes, really", he says softly and with a little wonder.

"Oh, _Charles!_" Erik takes Charles' face into his hands and kisses him deeply. "I love you so much."

It's good Hank left them to themselves because the way they reaffirm their love for each other next is definitely more than he needs to see.

* * *

_Wow, this one really got away from me. I guess my muse was busy collecting ideas while I was doing … other stuff._

_Thanks for reading and, again, for all your patience. You are all awesome and I love to share this with you._

_Please feel free to send messages with reminders or metaphorical smacks upside the head (or... elsewhere) if I'm off procrastinating for too long. ^_^_

_We'll see more of Hank in the future, of course, and also the lovely boys back at home! In the near future should be the wedding somewhere, if you have particular wishes for that one or the celebration afterwards, let me know!_

_Until next chapter!_


	15. The twentieth week

**The Twentieth week**

_Thank you, dear readers, for all your patience. This summer I've been not entirely well, and there were lots of things in Real Life demanding my attention, but I hope things are going to get a little better from here on out._

_In the lives of our heros things are definitely looking up, so I hope you enjoy this new chapter!_

* * *

"O my God, I'm going to be sick," Erik mutters, and Samuel has to admit, he does look a little green there.

"Just take it easy. And if it really gets to much, we have a wash-basin right here," he tells his brother-in-law soothingly.

Erik closes his eyes and rubs his hands nervously on his trousers. His very fine, very new trousers. These are the best clothes he's ever had, and also the most expensive. They were a gift from Charles. Charles, his very rich fiancé, who, had the heat not surprised him, would be happily lounging about the library in Westchester estate right about now, perhaps ringing for Graves to bring him new tea.

His eyes fly open and he rushes over to the washbasin just in time, though there's not much breakfast to loose.

"I can't remember you being this nervous," Erik says weakly after he rinses his mouth.

Samuel laughs. "I was still a little tipsy from the stag night."

Erik has fond memories of Samuel's stag night. They're a little fuzzy the later the night got, but still nice.

The boys wanted to throw them both such parties, too, but Erik and Charles had enough on their minds with the wedding preparations, and insisted on having the evenings to themselves. In fact, Erik remembers last night quite clearly, and with an overwhelming feeling of love and tenderness for his mate. The thought does a lot to calm him down again.

Sure, Charles is former nobility, and they were thrown together by chance, but it was very clearly Charles' idea to have a proper wedding. He has both told and shown Erik over the last months that he loves him, and their life together, and is looking forward to making their bond official.

Yes, everything will be fine.

* * *

"I can't have red eyes at my wedding!" Charles wails, buried into Raven's embrace.

"There, there," Raven tells him calmly, and with just a hint of amusement. "No one will notice, you've got a veil, remember?"

"But... won't Erik lift that to kiss me?" Charles sniffles and sits up to rub his hands over his eyes. Ruth, who's also there, helpfully presses a cold washcloth into his hands before they reach his face.

Then she presses a kiss to his hair.

"Yes, he will. Believe me, honey, we'll all have misty eyes too, even if someone notices, no one will mind."

"But I'm happy! I don't know why I keep tearing up!"

"Hm, let me think, you haven't slept much in the last nights, it's a very emotional day, and my little nieces or nephews are messing with your hormones."

Put like that, it does seem more like a miracle Charles has gotten through the days leading up to the wedding without breaking down sobbing in Erik's arms every evening.

Thinking of Erik brings his memories back to last night, and he feels calm settle over him once more. There were so many declarations of love and adoration from both of them, some with words, but most of them silent. Charles fell asleep feeling completely at home, safe in Erik's embrace. If this is how he'll fall asleep for every single night from now on, he guesses it's not such big a deal to have slightly red eyes on their wedding day.

* * *

The wedding is a series of pictures which burn themselves into Charles memory, to be contemplated more at a later time. He doesn't remember afterwards how he gets from one part to the next, but that doesn't seem important.

He feels ready to burst with joy when he first sees Erik on this day, looking so dashing in his suit, his face lighting up like the sun when he catches sight of Charles.

Somewhere along the line vows are exchanged, a ketubah is signed, there is a beautiful chuppah standing in their garden, and then he gets a little startled when Erik stomps on a glass and everyone shouts "Mazel tov!".

There are so many people to meet, Charles feels his head spin at times. But Erik is always right beside him with a steadying arm around his waist whenever he needs it, which helps Charles relax enough to enjoy everything.

He is especially pleased to see the children enjoying themselves. Apart from Pietro and Wanda there is Aunt Muriel's granddaughter Sophie, quite some children from the families of the staff at Westchester which have been invited, and an astonishing number from the village.

Erik might not have been the most talkative person, but he's obviously well liked.

Charles especially likes the band, which plays a music style called Klezmer as he learns. Apparently this is a Jewish wedding tradition going back a long time. They're definitely much more lively than anything he ever heard at Westchester, and the dancing is also much more carefree and full of laughter.

All in all, it seems like everyone is enjoying themselves. Charles is happy to have all his loved ones around him at this wonderful day. Any lingering regrets about the way the heat changed his life are completely quiet for a change, which is just as Charles likes it.

* * *

_Lady Muriel de Montfort, Dowager Duchess of Flintshire, to Lady Elizabeth Towneley, Duchess of Newquay_

My dearest Lizzy,

I hope this letter finds you and your family well. How is little Thomas? Has the rash abated somewhat?

You so kindly enquired after my nephew Charles when we last met, and expressed your joy at him having found a good mate. It is a great pleasure for me to give you an account of his and Erik's nuptial festivities which took place this last weekend.

I arrived together with my daughter Amanda and her family a day earlier and we stayed in the Inn "The King's Oak" at the next village, which is considerably larger than the one Charles resides in. A very adequate place to stay if you're ever in the area. The landlady was obviously quite excited to accommodate nobility, and made us completely comfortable.

The ceremony took part around 11 a.m., but we arrived early in the morning; I wanted to make sure Charles was all right and offer our assistance.

When we arrived at the house (a respectable farmstead, a very sensible investment on Charles' part) there were lots of people milling about, as usual before such a celebration. I spotted the farmhands I had the pleasure of getting to know on my last visit, and introduced Amanda, her husband Leonard and her daughter Sophie, who has turned four years old this summer.

Armando pointed me in the direction of the library, as this is where they had placed Charles so he could have a little peace and quiet.

We, in turn, got introduced to the friends and family already present, as there were the neighbours Irene Adler and Raven Darkholme, Henry McCoy and family, and Erik's sister Ruth and her family. She has twins of five years, Pietro and Wanda, who are very well mannered children. They invited Sophie to come play with them but she wanted to see Charles first, of course.

Erik was outside with his brother-in-law Samuel and some more men from the village, assembling large tents on the lawn for the celebrations.

Stevenson, my trusty valet who had accompanied us, stayed in the kitchen, while we went on to the library.

Charles was radiant, in very beautiful cream coloured robes which seemed to flow around him like water. At first he seemed a little overwhelmed, but as soon as he saw little Sophie his face lit up.

Sophie immediately ran up to him and threw her arms around him, and he picked her up laughing. We haven't had that much opportunity to meet in person, as Flintshire and Westchester are a considerable way from each other.

But Charles and Amanda have always gotten along very well from childhood on, and they've kept in contact through letters and visits even after Amanda married Leonard and had Sophie. I was very pleased my granddaughter could distract Charles from his nerves.

I followed at a more leisurely pace and when I reached Charles he was still smiling.

I kissed his forehead, and told him how good he looked.

He began to blush, but thanked me sincerely.

I suggested he keep Sophie occupied and we would help with any preparations left, which seemed to relieve him. He asked me to send in Pietro and Wanda, too, then he could read to them and keep them from being underfoot during the preparations.

Amanda and Leonard hugged him in turn and Amanda chose to stay with him, while we joined back into the fray.

I must tell you, it was with some amusement I sat down to peel potatoes and chop vegetables. I never get to do that in Flintshire, our cook Mrs. Brady would have an apoplexy. Leo went outside to help the men, and I got to know Charles' friends.

I think meeting Erik has done him a lot of good. You know how Charles always preferred his books to people, and how he hated the idle chit chat which takes up so much of our time at tea parties and soirées.

These hard working, down-to-earth villagers don't waste time with that chatter, and they like him because of his good character, not his title or wealth. As far as I've gotten to know them, they're all nice, decent people Charles can be proud to count to his friends.

The wedding itself was absolutely marvellous. The ceremony was held by Rabbi Silverstein, whose nephew Samuel is the husband of Erik's sister Ruth.

Erik and Charles only had eyes for each other. It warmed my heart to see Charles so obviously happy. As you know, he never had that much interest for the politics of arranging a marriage, though he probably would have gone along with any suggestion of a suitable Alpha, if they treated him halfway decently and left him to pursue his studies in peace. But what he found here is real love, something I have always wished for him.

After the ceremony we enjoyed the food prepared by so many, which was quite a feast in itself, made all the better by the obvious love with which it was cooked and arranged. Ruth had brought a wedding cake and I saw the newlyweds enjoying feeding it to each other.

Later there was a Klezmer band playing, and all the children had a great time dancing and hopping around, the adults joining in without any care for ball room etiquette. Even I was drawn into the fray when Erik politely asked me for the honour of a dance.

It was a far cry from the balls we are used to, where Charles always seemed nearly bored to death. Seeing him throwing back his head in laughter, his cheeks rosy, and his curls in disarray, while he joined hands with three or four children, was infinitely better.

There was an extra table reserved for presents and flowers, and Charles' eyes widened in shock when he first set eyes on it, as it was overflowing with gifts. He obviously didn't expect such an abundance. My dear boy never had a clue just what an effect he has on people. Quite apart from the shallow pleasantries you exchange with other members of our social class you only meet at soirées, he has earned the respect and love of any number of people he has come in contact with.

No few of the families belonging to the staff at Westchester were in attendance, along with some scientists Charles has been in correspondence with. These mixed with the friends from the village made for a truly eclectic gathering.

I don't think I could have found a better mate for my Charles, even though I had been discreetly on the lookout for some time. I felt honoured to get to know so many interesting people. It has been a long time since I last enjoyed myself this much.

So, I hope I could calm any worries which might have been lingering, how Charles is faring in his new life, my dear.

I'm looking forward to seeing you next month, and hope to hear from you in the meantime.

Very affectionately yours,

Muriel de Montfort

* * *

Later, when all the guests have left, and everything perishable has been taken care of by many helpful hands, Charles and Erik finally retreat to their bedroom for the night.

Charles is surprised to see a new addition to their furniture, though it's hidden under a sheet and a bow is tied around it.

He turns to Erik with a quizzical look, and his Alpha smiles, and gives him a hug.

"Remember that surprise I was building in the shed a few weeks ago?"

Charles snorts. "Me and my butt remember."

Erik squeezes him with a chuckle. "Yes, well, now is the time you'll finally get to see it."

Charles curiously unties the bow, and lifts the sheet – it falls to the floor when he turns and throws his arms around Erik's neck, and kisses him enthusiastically.

"A rocking chair! Oh Erik, _thank_ you! It's marvellous! Did you make it all by yourself?"

Erik nods, smiling widely. He sits down, and draws Charles into his lap, and starts rocking them gently.

"My mother had one, I remember her rocking with me, and later Ruthie in her lap when we were sick or upset. It went to Ruth when she married, but I always loved the rocking, and I thought you might like it, too."

"I love it."

They spend some time rocking gently, enjoying the closeness and quiet after the hustle and bustle of the day.

Then Charles gets up with a kiss, and fetches a beautifully wrapped package from where it lay on Erik's pillow.

He sits down in Erik's lap again, and Erik keeps his arms around him as he carefully opens the large package.

The Alpha gasps in astonishment when he opens the book inside, and reverently runs his hands over the rich leather, turning wide eyes to his mate.

"Is that really...?" He whispers incredulously.

Charles laughs softly. "Yes, it's really a complete Tanakh. I thought it'd be best you had the sources available when you teach our children the mitzvot."

"Charles, that must have cost a fortune!"

Charles shrugs, and kisses his Alpha. "I consider it a good investment in our family."

"Thank you." Erik's eyes are shining, and he sounds a little husky.

Charles snuggles against him more comfortably, feeling very content. There is nowhere else he'd rather be than in the arms of his Alpha, in this wonderful rocking chair in the home they made for themselves.

* * *

_Yay weddings!_

_More information about traditional Jewish weddings can be found when you search wikipedia for "Jewish wedding"._

_The Tanakh or Tanach is the Hebrew text of the Old Testament, and the mitzvot are the commandments God gave his people Israel. It is a very important duty of Jewish fathers to teach them to their children._

_To anyone knowing a bit more about British nobility: I just chose names that sounded nice for Aunt Muriel and her friend, no historical accuracy is claimed. :)_

_Thank you all for reading, and again, for your patience._


	16. The twenty-fourth week

_Hello, hello, dear patient readers, and welcome back!_

_Things in Real Life did not really look up, but still the writing has gone on slowly, so now there is a new chapter for you!_

_Here we get to know more about the farmhands and what they get up to in their free time. There also is another poll concerning our dear farmhands! You can find it at my profile. _

_Enjoy!_

* * *

**The twenty-fourth week**

"Prof?" Armando asks when he steps into the kitchen.

Charles looks up from his skillet with scrambled eggs. "Mhm?"

"Could you have a look at Sean? He said he didn't feel well."

"Oh, of course." Charles hands Armando the spatula and hurries upstairs. During his vast and widespread studies he gained some medical knowledge as well, at least enough for first aid, and to treat the most common ailments.

He meets Erik on the landing. The Alpha's smile fades when he sees Charles' worry. "What's wrong?"

"Armando told me Sean didn't feel well."

Erik follows him into the boy's room, where a low groaning comes from Sean's bed. Charles is next to him in a moment and gently presses a hand to his forehead.

"Oh, darling, you're burning up," he murmurs, and checks Sean's pulse next. Sean's eyes flutter, but don't open. While Charles is still going over the possible illnesses in his head, Erik begins to speak in a low, soothing voice.

"Charles, you'd better prepare the room over the stable."

Charles looks up, startled.

"What? But that's for... oh. He's going into heat, isn't he?"

Erik nods, and gently strokes Sean's hair. Sean turns his head into Erik's hand with a keening sound, comforted by the familiar scent of an Alpha his subconscious registers as safe.

"Don't worry, we'll take good care of you," Erik tells Sean softly. Charles goes to prepare the room, content in the knowledge Erik will keep Sean safe.

Sometimes he wishes he had as keen a nose as his Alpha, it would come in handy during experiments for sure. But he knows with the heightened senses also comes a heightened urge to protect any of "his" Omegas in need. That's a job Charles gladly leaves to Erik. He likes taking care of "their boys", making sure they get healthy meals and enough sleep, and as much education they can manage around the farm work.

When he first noticed his ... one could say, paternal feelings for their farmhands, Charles had a little freak-out. Fortunately Raven came over in the middle of it and could pry out of him what was the matter. (She's very good at being nosy.)

Then she dragged him to Mrs. Carnegie, the Vicar's wife, to get him some firsthand expert knowledge on the matter.

Vicarages have not only been places of refuge and shelter for Omegas in need throughout the centuries, but often come with farmland attached so that the Vicar and his household can have fresh vegetables etc. As the Vicar and their partner normally have lots of other responsibilities, there are usually farmhands and other staff helping with the workload.

Mrs. Carnegie could reassure Charles that feeling paternal for the young and unmated people under his care is a natural and positive development. She had lots of good advice, and even lent him some books on the matter, which Charles more or less devoured.

In addition to these books, Mrs. McCloud gave him a very helpful compendium about the care of Omegas in heat for his wedding. It contains her own experiences and the knowledge she gathered throughout the years. It also has room for Charles' own notes.

Charles mentally goes over what he knows while airing and dusting the room, and putting fresh sheets on the bed.

Lots of water, comfortable pillows, sheets and blankets of different thickness to counteract the waves of heat and cold which will seize Sean's body in turn. It also helps tremendously to have someone trusted near, so Sean's subconscious will know he is safe, and he will be able to relax.

Heat is a time where Omegas are extremely vulnerable, being ruled almost exclusively by instinct. And though Charles' own adventure in that respect has turned out more than all right in the end, he is going to make absolutely sure Sean will not be subject to an involuntary mating.

Not that Erik wouldn't fight off any unwanted suitors tooth and nail, he thinks with a grin.

He has informed Armando and Alex on his way through the kitchen and told them to start their breakfast on their own. He and Erik will eat when they've got Sean settled.

When he comes back to the main house, Alex and Armando have already cleared out, and gone to work in the garden. They thoughtfully brewed a pot of relaxing tea which is cooling on the counter. They're really good boys, Charles thinks fondly while he heads up the stairs.

Erik is cradling Sean's head in his lap, and cooling his forehead with a damp washcloth, and he's crooning reassuringly. Sean has thrown an arm around Erik's waist, and his nose against the Alpha's midsection, apparently content for the moment. Charles feels warmth grow within his chest at seeing his mate filling the role of provider so well.

Erik looks up, and Charles nods at him with a smile. "It's ready."

Erik gently gathers Sean up in his arms, and when the Omega whines in protest, tells him soothingly: "Shhh, honey, we're just getting you somewhere you'll be more comfortable."

Sean quiets down, his head turned against Erik's shoulder.

They get Sean to the room above the stable within minutes.

Charles brought the tea along, and when Erik has made sure Sean is snug in bed, Charles holds a cup of the soothing liquid to his mouth. Sean drinks gratefully, then lets out a contented sigh as he lays back down.

Charles gently smooths the hair out of Sean's eyes and presses a kiss to his forehead. Then he looks up at his Alpha with a smile.

"If you fetch me a novel, I can stay and read to him?"

Erik smiles back. "Sounds good. Have you had breakfast yet?"

Charles shakes his head.

"Right, then I'll bring up a tray, and we'll see what we can entice our lad to eat."

With a kiss for his mate, and a ruffle for Sean's hair, Erik excuses himself.

Charles vaguely remembers cool, soothing hands smoothing back his hair from his own heats growing up. Without much thought he begins to card his fingers through Sean's ginger locks, humming softly. Apparently it helps the young Omega to feel safe, because he relaxes even more, and turn his head to nuzzle Charles' hand.

"You're going to be just fine, honey. We're going to keep you well-hydrated, and warm, and with fresh sheets. And you won't be alone, one of us will keep watch all the time."

Charles speaks softly. He doesn't know for sure how coherent Sean still is, but just hearing a trusted voice is calming for an Omega in heat.

It doesn't take long for Erik to get back with breakfast. He brought a wide variety of things and between them they can get Sean to eat a halfway normal amount for breakfast, which is important to keep his strength up. The heat will take its toll on Sean's body anyway, but they'll do anything to make it as easy on him as possible.

It's a slow, unhurried day. Charles spends most of it sitting at Sean's bedside and reading to him, or holding him through the tremors when another wave hits him. Not that Charles has a lot of recollection from his own heats, but he knows that the waves will continue until Sean is either mated or no longer fertile.

Erik comes and takes over the watch for a couple of times during the day, and Alex and Armando do their part in taking care of every chore which needs to be done. Armando cooks a very aromatic stew for lunch (apparently a recipe from his grandmother which has always enticed the Muñoz family Omegas in heat to eat), and it works like a charm. Sean eats three bowls and then falls into a sated sleep afterwards.

Erik draws his husband outside of the room while Sean is sleeping.

"How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine. We're having a lazy day, I'm glad when I can make him feel better."

Erik nods, and kisses Charles thoroughly. "How about you lay down for a nap, too, and I'll keep watch?"

"That sounds really nice," Charles admits. So they do just that. Charles curls up next to Sean. The younger Omega instinctively turns towards Charles, and he rubs the lad's back, and croons softly until he falls asleep. It doesn't take long for Charles to follow him, feeling safe in the knowledge that his Alpha will watch over them.

* * *

Sean's heat has gone quite well, Charles thinks.

He was asleep most of the time, thankfully being able to relax enough.

Alex and Armando were pure angles, cooking enticing food, taking over Sean's share of work, making sure Charles and Erik were free to take care of Sean without worries.

When Sean wakes on the fourth day, Charles is next to his bed, smiling down on him, and holding his hand.

"Hey, honey, feeling better?"

Sean smiles back, but still looks exhausted. "Yeah, thanks, Prof."

Charles reaches over to ruffle the ginger curls. "Splendid. How about some breakfast?"

Sean's stomach chooses this moment to rumble loudly, which makes them both laugh. "That'd be great, I'm starving."

Charles stands up with a pat to Sean's hand. "You stay here, I'll be right back with the food."

Sean smiles gratefully, and sits up properly to have a good look around. He doesn't remember how he got here, but that's normal when in heat. He does remember feeling secure and cared for, so apparently Charles or someone else made sure he was comfortable.

Charles comes back, bearing a tray with lots of food, and Sean digs in happily. Charles fills in the blanks in his memory while he eats, and Sean tells him how grateful he is for all their care.

It's decided Sean should still take it easy for today, but he can get up if he wants. Charles leaves him after breakfast, so he can have some peace and quiet, but promises to check up on him regularly.

Later Alex and Armando come by for a visit, and fill him in on all the funny little things he missed while he was out of it.

The three farmhands are diligent workers, but they're also having a good time together. Sean is usually the one to come up with the craziest ideas - which, too him, all seem brilliant at that time. They sometimes turn out to be hilarious, sometimes they get into trouble over it, and most often both.

Sadly, there won't be any more midnight raids of the pantry in the foreseeable future, because after the last one Erik has threatened to take a switch to anyone he catches raiding the pantry in the middle of the night.

It's not that they don't get enough food at mealtimes, (because they do, plenty of it), it's just much more fun to have a midnight party with sneakily and slightly illicitly obtained goods.

Their loud and off-key singing of shanties, which seemed like an excellent idea after sharing a bottle of Charles' home made berry wine, might have played a role in giving them away.

But whatever, it was great fun nevertheless. Perhaps they can have the next party here over the stables, that's far enough from the house to not wake Charles and Erik up, right?

When he shares this idea with Alex and Armando, they both roll their eyes, and 'Mando reaches over to ruffle his hair. "How about you get better first, before you think about the next party?"

Sean sighs, but has to admit 'Mando has a point. He's always so reasonable. It is kinda boring, but it has also saved their collective butts on a number of occasions, so Sean doesn't complain.

Not that Erik warms their bottoms on a regular basis (he reserves that for the most extreme of cases, and thankfully lets them leave their trousers up when he makes them lean over the workbench for a switching), but he has been known to deal a swat or two to a disrespectful or insubordinate farmhand. When Charles finds cause for disapproval, he makes them write lines on their school slates, which sometimes is even worse.

Though Sean could already write before he came to work for Charles and Erik, it's not one of his favourite activities. And having to fill the whole slate with lines like "I will not sew Alex' sleeves shut" is just pure torture, in his mind. Especially as Charles makes him rewrite any illegible lines.

Armando has begun reading and writing only recently, when Charles found out he didn't have the opportunity to learn before. Charles was delighted to be able teach him, and is a very patient tutor. At first Charles started Armando on a reading primer, but after 'Mando discovered "On the Origin of Species" while dusting in the library, it has become his favourite book. He timidly asked Charles if it was all right to read it, because it's a very valuable book, and Charles was absolutely elated to lend it to him, because it's one of his favourites, too. They often read it together in the evenings, Armando reading out loud, Charles explaining the complicated words. That's how 'Mando got his nickname "Darwin" from Alex, though he doesn't mind the gentle teasing at all.

The morning flies by with catching up with his fellow farmhands, and soon a smiling Erik knocks on the door.

Sean feels a wave of contentment wash over him when the Alpha comes near, his body practically purring when it catches the scent of the Alpha who successfully protected him during heat.

"You feel up for joining us downstairs for lunch?" Erik asks while gently ruffling Sean's hair.

Sean leans into the touch instinctively, and Erik sits down on his bed to give him a proper hug. "I think that'd be great."

"Wonderful. Armando, you can stay if Sean needs help washing up, Alex, you can set the table. I'll see you soon." With a kiss to Sean's forehead Erik takes his leave, and Sean looks up to see Alex and 'Mando looking at him curiously.

"What?"

"Erik's really mellowed out towards you, hasn't he?" Alex asks with a mixture of awe and astonishment. Sure, they've seen Erik kiss Charles before, but that's his _mate_. The interactions between Erik and Alex are more along the lines of manly slaps to the back, or a nod for work well done.

'Mando laughs suddenly. "It's the heat. Erik looked after Sean during heat, he's probably feeling more affectionate now."

Alex accepts this, as Armando has much more experience with this than him. The Muñoz family is much bigger, and heats are a common occurrence. Alex only has his little brother Scott, and a baby sister and both of them are too young for heats.

Alex leaves them to go set the table, and 'Mando helps Sean to fresh up and get dressed, as his limbs are still feeling a bit weak after the heat.

Soon they're on their way down to lunch, and Sean looks forward to returning to normalcy. In a few days he'll bring up the party again, the room over the stable would be just a too good venue to pass up.

* * *

_Oh Sean... _

_I hope you had fun! Let me know what you think in the comments! _

_Also, if you'd like, take part in the poll on the top of my profile to let me know if you'd like to see any relationships for our farmhands. _

_Thank you very much, once again, for reading, favouriting, following, and reviewing (which always makes me squee in delight when I get a notification of a new review)._

_For those who'd like a peek into the future where the twins are already born, go check out the sequel "The Scientist and the Silversmith", found under my profile! _

_Have a good time until next chapter! _


	17. The twenty-seventh week

_Welcome back, dear readers!_

_I realized with some embarrassment that it has been several months since the latest update. Star Wars has kind of taken over my fic writing life after TFA, and there are also so many other ideas in other fandoms. Too many plot bunnies, too little time. ;)_

_But! I didn't want to leave you hanging indefinitely!_

_So here is the next instalment in this story. I hope you enjoy!_

* * *

Erik looks up when Charles comes back from the village, softly closes the kitchen door and leans against it. He's awfully pale and Erik is next to him in two seconds.

"Charles? Are you all right?"

Charles looks at him, blinking slowly.

"The Vicar came and spoke to me," he says in a very detached voice. Erik leads him gently to the table and sets about making fresh tea. The boys are all working outside at the moment, Erik is alone in the kitchen, washing up.

"Yes?" He inquires friendly, not letting his worry show.

"He said..." Charles breaks off and seems to catch himself. Erik turns around and sees Charles' eyes actually focusing at him for the first time since he got back.

"Erik, do you think I'll make a good father? That I'll be good with children?" Charles asks rather abruptly.

That is one question the Alpha will never have to think about. "Yes, of course you will. Anyone who has ever seen you with Pietro and Wanda can tell that. What brought this on? Has the Vicar said something to imply otherwise?"

Charles shakes his head and thanks Erik for the mug of tea his husband puts in his hands.

"No, quite the opposite. He told me that this winter there will be rather a bit more children in school than in previous years and asked if I would consider helping out with the teaching."

Comprehension dawns at last. Erik smiles as he sits down with his own tea. "And have you had experiences in teaching kids before? I know you and Mando certainly seem to enjoy your lessons."

"Actually, I have. Some children of the staff at the estate - nothing formal, you see, but they did enjoy some of the chemical experiments and the library and helped me find frogs and insects to study in exchange. We had great fun."

He sounds very fond of them. Erik is not surprised. Though Charles can be very vocal about having to do what he grew up to know as menial work left to servants, everything involving the gaining or spreading of knowledge delights him. Erik has seen him interact with the village children before and while he's a bit wary of the babies he gets along with the bigger kids marvellously, especially when he can explain something. Word has spread quickly that apparently "Mr Charles" knows _everything_ and will answer any question you bring him in great detail.

Not to forget the way he lights up whenever their farmhands come up with a question he can answer. Or when he interacts with his niece and nephew.

But these are all smaller groups to interact with. A school room full of raucous village brats is another matter altogether.

Still, Erik thinks it will do Charles a world of good to become a teacher for real, and not just in his spare time. He will excel in it, and he will have the opportunity to work more closely with the vicar, and to get to know most of the families in their village better.

Erik leans over and kisses him. "I think that's a great idea. You seemed a bit stunned?"

"Yes, well." That adorable blush of his begins to cover his cheeks and Erik grins.

"Out with it."

Charles hesitates a bit but speaks eventually. "It feels rather shocking to be included in this way."

The Alpha decides that there is too much space between them for this conversation and simply picks Charles up to carry him to the settee in the sitting room. There is the usual rush of feelings when Charles automatically tightens his legs around his mate's waist. He suspects Charles enjoys being carried by him just as much as Erik enjoys walking around with that warm body in his arms.

When they're settled comfortably on the settee and Erik has Charles in his lap, he begins to prod gently. "What's so shocking about it?"

Charles thinks this over. "Back in Westchester, no one would have approached me like that. I think mostly because of the title but I also wasn't that much of a social person, I guess. And I still feel like I don't belong here in the village, mostly. Like these are your people and they accept me as your mate because that's the polite thing to do, but today..."

"Today the vicar chose to ask for your help specifically because he knows you'd make a great teacher," Erik finishes when Charles trails off, kissing his temple.

"Are you aware that quite a few people in our village actually enjoy your company and are dying to get to know you better?"

Charles gives him a very disbelieving look and Erik laughs.

"It's true! And don't get me started on all the nice old ladies telling me how very glad they are I finally found myself such a wonderful young man and how delightful it is to see me smiling for a change."

That makes Charles crack a smile, too. "Well. I'm glad _someone_ appreciates what a good influence I have on you." Then he gets a little more serious again.

"I'm just a bit wary of the parents."

"Why?"

"... I'm not very experienced in talking to these kind of people."

"When you say 'these kind of people'," Erik comments dryly, "do you actually mean 'peasants' and just don't want to phrase it that way to avoid getting your bottom smacked?"

Charles glances up at him trough his lashes, an involuntary smile tugging at his lips. "Maybe?"

Erik chuckles and kisses him. "Good thinking. Anyway, that's not really true, now is it? You get along with our boys splendidly, and they all come from working families."

Charles blinks at Erik. "Yes, but... they are _our boys_... that's different."

The Alpha shakes his head with a smile. "They are perfectly normal examples of this class you like to think of as peasants. When you get to know the parents better, I think you'll find that any prejudices that might still linger are completely unfounded."

Charles smiles. "If you say so..."

Erik grins, and attacks the sides of his mate with tickling fingers. "I _know_ so."

Charles dissolves into laughter under Erik's hands, trying to fight him off quite ineffectively.

"I give! I give!" he finally wheezes, and Erik stops his assault. Instead he hugs his mate to him, and presses kisses to his hair.

Charles relaxes in the arms of his Alpha, feeling much better.

Now that the first shock has worn off, he actually starts to see the opportunities which come with the position of one of the village's teachers. He can really do something to help these children get a good education.

Charles loves to see the spark of scientific curiosity in children's eyes. Usually the life of the working class is just too busy for children to be able to explore and learn to their heart's content, there are always chores they are needed for. But Charles has won over parents before in Westchester, when they didn't see the sense in letting their children "waste their time on that nonsense when there is work to be done".

Education is the key to opening up new opportunities for the children later on, Charles is convinced of that. Besides, they live in the golden age for science. The last time there was such a widespread collection of knowledge was probably in the era of the Greek philosophers.

"I'll do it," he announces resolutely, and tries to get up from Erik's lap.

Erik just tightens his arms around him. "Splendid. And where do you think you're going?"

"To Mr Carnegie, of course. Don't you think he'd like to know my decision?"

"Later."

Charles sighs, but settles back against his Alpha. He's not really put out that Erik wants to keep him in his arms a bit longer, he actually loves soaking up his mate's affection. There aren't any really pressing matters to attend to anyway. The next thing to think about is lunch, and that's hours away still.

* * *

"Have you heard the latest news!" Raven calls out as soon as she steps into the kitchen.

Irene smiles at her over the potatoes she's currently peeling. "I'm sure you'll tell me soon enough, honey."

Raven laughs. "You're absolutely right."

She takes off her bonnet and leans down for a hug and a kiss. Then she fastens an apron over her dress and sits down to start on the other vegetables meant for the stew.

"Our dear neighbour Charles is going to become a teacher!"

"Oh?" Irene asks, her eyes dancing in mirth. Raven loves gossip. She has lots of fun finding out the latest news of the village and telling Irene all about it. She wouldn't even have to leave the house if she didn't want to, she'd still be completely informed about all what's going on in their village.

"Yes! Mrs Carnegie told me her husband asked him if he'd like to become a second teacher for the school this winter. I can't imagine him saying no. That's his element, after all. And what a wonderful timing, too! Just think what our Kurt will be able to learn from him."

Raven is very pleased. Their son Kurt is eight now, and getting him to do his schoolwork is a bit touch and go. Some subjects he doesn't mind, like reading and spelling. But others, like maths, are a book with seven seals to him, and he has a tendency to put his homework off until the last opportunity. He isn't a child who likes to sit still and read in any case, he much rather plays with his friends, running around the whole village and surrounding woods, building dams in the river, getting up to all kinds of mischief.

Irene has put her foot down on several occasions, decreeing that Kurt has to finish his schoolwork before going to play. Kurt had been not happy about it, but also knew he couldn't defy his mother in this if he wanted to sit comfortably at his desk.

Raven is looking forward to see if Charles will be able to ignite some of his enthusiasm for science in their boy.

It's some weeks still until school will start again, but it's never to early to plan ahead for the future of your child.

"Where is our ray of sunshine anyway?" Raven asks with a smile.

Irene laughs. "Out, as always. He did the washing up so fast I feared for our dishes. Then he was out like lightning. I believe they wanted to go to the woods."

Raven laughs as well. "We can always rely on the hunger bringing him back in time for the meals. Oh! I'm gonna pop over real quick and invite Charles and Erik to lunch if that's all right?"

Irene kisses her cheek. "Of course, honey, there will be plenty to go around. Invite their boys as well. Are you planning to orchestrate casual meetings between Charles and Kurt so he'll look forward to school?"

"You know me too well. Be right back!"

* * *

Charles is standing in the pantry, thinking about what he'd like to cook today, when Erik looks in with a grin.

"You have a visitor, Liebling."

Charles follows him curiously, and is delighted to see Raven. He gives her a hug in greeting. Raven has become a close friend since they've become neighbours, which has helped Charles to feel more like part of the village already. Teaching in the village school will probably help a lot in that respect as well.

"Hello, what a nice surprise! Would you like some tea?"

Raven laughs. "Thanks, but that's not necessary. I wanted to invite you all over to lunch, we're having beef stew."

Charles rubs his hands gleefully. "Splendid. We'll be there, thank you very much. I can bring dessert, if you'd like?"

Raven agrees eagerly. Since they came to live in this nice house with the very well equipped kitchen, Charles has begun to experiment more, recreating some of the more elaborate dishes he knows from his youth growing up in Westchester. It also helped that he got some very nice books with recipes for the wedding.

His desserts are legendary amongst the lucky souls who get to taste them. They never survive more than a day, too many young men with big appetites in the house make sure of that.

They agree to be there at lunch, and Raven takes her leave.

Charles smiles at his mate. "Do you have anything urgent to finish in the workshop? Otherwise I could use your help with the apples. I was thinking of making your mother's apple strudel, that turned out quite nicely last time."

Erik grins like a shark, and draws his husband near for a deep kiss. "Better make two, you know our boys."

Charles laughs. "Or three. If you fetch the apples I can work on the dough in the meantime."

* * *

Charles, Erik and the farmhands arrive at their neighbour's house shortly before noon.

Raven ushers them in. "Welcome, come in, how nice that you could join us. Would you like a glass of cider?"

Charles abstains, and opts for some fresh milk instead, but Erik and the boys take Raven up on her offer.

Hank has shown some articles to Charles which discuss the probability of alcohol consumed during pregnancy harming the baby. There isn't much research into this subject yet, but Charles has decided to stay on the safe side.

But Raven and Irene call a cow their own, so there's always fresh milk in their home.

On the Lehnsherr farm they currently have their horses Max and Elise, some chickens, and a cat who one day wandered in, and apparently decided the hay loft belongs to her. There is still a lively discussion going on amongst the boys about what she should be named. Erik is against her sleeping in the house, and quite suspicious of Sean's story that "she must have climbed in through the window, honestly". Charles has seen the young man let the cat in the door at night, but that secret is safe with him. He quite likes cats, and this one is well mannered, not scratching the furniture or anything. He guesses over time Erik will get used to her sleeping in the house.

Erik has brought the big plate with the (yes, three) strudels over, because "letting one of the boys carry it would be making the ram the gardener" as he said. Apparently it's one of these German proverbs which sound strange but make actually sense when you think about them. Charles explained to him that it'd be more easily understandable if he said "to set a fox to keep the geese", but Erik just grinned at him.

Alex was entrusted with the big jug of custard, at least.

Erik and Alex carry their goods to the cool pantry, where they'll be safe from wandering fingers until it's time for dessert. Meanwhile, Charles is thankful to be off his feet for a while.

While Irene is putting the finishing touches to the stew, Raven busies herself setting the table and chatting with Charles. Sean is happily sipping his cider and daydreaming. Armando, Erik and Alex are talking amongst themselves.

"So, I heard Mr Carnegie asked you to join him in teaching in our school?"

Charles chuckles. "Gossip really is the fastest travelling thing in the universe. Yes, he did, and yes, I'll accept. I'll visit him tomorrow to talk over the curriculum."

Raven gives him a big smile, and a spontaneous hug. "Wonderful! That's really good news. Can I ask you something related to this?"

Charles smiles. "Of course."

"Perhaps you have an idea how we can get Kurt to enjoy the sciences more? He doesn't mind reading and orthography, but maths and the natural sciences really give him trouble."

"Well... I do have quite a few ideas, actually, but most involve getting thoroughly dirty."

Raven laughs, shaking her head in amusement. "He comes home like that nearly every day, that's not a problem."

"All right. I'll talk to him. Will he be joining us for lunch?"

"He'd better," Raven says drily. "Irene doesn't abide tardiness, so I bet he'll be home any minute now."

As if on cue, the door opens and two boys rush in. Charles has already met Kurt before, and he's also seen his friend a few times.

Kurt skips over to the table and gives his mother a kiss.

"Hi mom, can Remy stay for lunch? Hi neighbours!"

Raven laughs and ruffles his hair. "Of course. You boys go through to the pump and wash up though. And put on fresh shirts."

"Okay!" Kurt agrees easily, and the boys take off for the back door.

"You must have a great deal of laundry," Charles comments while Raven is setting one more place.

She waves her hand airily. "Eh, Kurt helps a lot with that, it's fine. I'd rather he have some colour in his cheeks from being outside all day than having him sit still in the house looking pale."

It doesn't take long for everyone to gather around the dinner table, and soon the room is filled with the merry sounds of a good meal.

Charles is sitting opposite of Kurt and Remy, and engages them in an animated conversation about where they went this morning, and what plants and animals they came across. The boys happily tell him all about their little field trip.

"Perhaps you could help me with something," Charles muses. "You see, I have finished setting up my lab again. But I still need a lot of specimen to study - that means examples of plants or little animals like beetles or frogs. And _someone_ – " he casts his eyes meaningfully at Erik, who is sitting at the other end of the table next to Irene, "doesn't like me traipsing about the muddy woods all day."

The boys giggle. "Oh, but _we_ could collect these specithingies for you, Mr. Charles!" Kurt offers excitedly, and Remy nods decisively next to him.

"Really? That would be marvellous! Perhaps you'd like to come and see the lab after lunch? If you're not needed at home, that is."

Irene smiles at Charles and the boys both. "I think that's an excellent idea. Remy, you should check with your mother first, but I think she'll agree."

The boys cheer at that. Soon they're in a deep discussion about what parts of the local wildlife they should bring to Charles so he can study them. They only come back from the wonderful world of science when the dessert arrives.

"Ooooh," Kurt breathes in awe. Remy is absolutely speechless at the sight of this abundance of pastry appearing before him

But that doesn't prevent the boys from eagerly digging in when the plates filled with apple strudel and custard are passed around.

"You **have** to tell me your recipe, darling," Raven pleads Charles with a blissed out expression, having inhaled two servings already and working on her third.

Charles laughs. "You'll have to ask Erik, it was his mother's."

Raven switches her beseeching look to the Alpha at once. "Please, Erik?"

Erik grins, and taps a finger on his chin thoughtfully. "Oh, I don't know..." he drawls lazily.

Irene rolls her eyes. "Erik, please, do it for my sanity. I won't have a quiet minute until my love's curiosity is sated."

Erik's eyes twinkle. "If you tell me that recipe for your lamb casserole, we have a deal."

"Deal," Irene agrees at once, and the Alphas shake hands solemnly.

When everyone is too stuffed full to be able to manage one more bite, Raven and Armando helpfully get up to take care of the (meagre) leftovers, while Alex tows Sean with him to wash the dishes. Erik and Irene have their heads bent over notebooks, exchanging recipes.

Raven comes back with a mug of relaxing tea for Charles and juice for the children, leading them to the comfortable sofa and armchairs in the sitting room. She adjusts a foot rest for Charles, and gives him a kiss to the cheek.

"You put your feet up for a while, darling, it'll do you good."

"You're an angel," Charles tells her very sincerely, which has the boys giggling.

They soon resume their animated discussion of what scientific marvels can be found in the woods, and Charles is pleased to see the boys enjoying themselves so much.

If he can inspire this much enthusiasm in only half his pupils in school, he will count his work as a teacher a big success.

* * *

_And that's it for now, lovelies!_

_I promise we'll get back to Kurt and Remy in the chapter where Charles starts his work as a teacher. There is still a lot of room in that classroom, though! Tell me your favourite X-men character you'd like to see as a child, and they'll be included. ^_^_

_I hope you had fun, I certainly did!_

_Have a nice week, see you next time!_

_P.S. For those of you who want to fill the wait until the next chapter: There's a sequel to this, called "The Scientist and the Silversmith", which you can find under my profile. ;)_


	18. The thirtieth week

The thirtieth week

* * *

Charles has felt a little under the weather for the last days.

First he had to blow his nose every half hour, and then the coughs started. And when he got a little dizzy one morning as he tried to stand up, Erik put his foot down.

Doctor Cecilia Reyes from family Silverstein's village has been over to check on him, and declared that he has the flu.

So now he spends his days in bed, being waited on by Erik and the boys.

It doesn't help that he can't get more than a few hours of uninterrupted sleep, before a coughing fit seizes him.

Charles is astonished how clingy he feels. Whenever he got a cold on the estate he spent the days mostly reading in bed and drinking tea, perfectly comfortable to be alone as usual.

Now even the thought of Erik leaving the bed makes him want to cry. When Erik gently tries to disentangle himself from Charles' grasp by mid morning, tears become a real and shocking possibility.

"Don't goooo!" Charles sounds hoarse and pitiful and Erik comforts him at once.

"Shh, honey, it's all right, I'm just making new tea. You need to drink something. I won't leave the house, I promise."

Charles shakes his head, clinging onto him. "Stay? Please?"

Erik smooths back Charles' hair from his forehead and thinks for a moment. Then he reaches over and snatches a cardigan from the chair beside the bed, bundling Charles in it and picking him up. Charles gratefully winds his arms around Erik's neck and his legs around his waist and sighs contentedly. Erik kisses his temple.

Then he carefully climbs down the stairs to make more tea. He's more than happy to keep his mate close, especially when he feels so awful. Charles hangs on to him, lays his head down on his Alpha's shoulder and closes his eyes, feeling very secure being carried around in Erik's arms.

"How is the throat?" Erik asks while he adds a healthy amount of honey to the tea.

"Sore," Charles mumbles. "And my head aches and my nose is stuffed and I hurt all over."

"My poor darling. Let's get you back to bed, you'll feel better."

"Will you stay?" Charles asks rather shyly.

Erik smiles, and kisses him gently "Of course, sweetheart."

_This might actually be better than sitting alone in bed with my journals. _Charles feels himself drifting off, but as he's safe and sound in his Alpha's arms, he doesn't mind.

* * *

"Man, just talk to her!"

Sean looks at Armando with wide eyes. "I can't do that!" He hisses. "She's the Chief of Police in the whole county, I'm a farm hand! I can't just go and talk to her!"

He watches carefully until the beautiful Chief Moira MacTaggert has turned around the next corner on her horse. She usually visits the town about once a week, talks to the mayor, and the policemen here. She likes to have a good working relationship with her members of staff. And she always has an open ear for the people of the town, who often come to her with concerns and requests while she is enjoying a meal in the tavern, or strolling over the market.

Armando rolls his eyes, and slings his arm across Sean's shoulders. "Chief MacTaggert doesn't care about that. I bet she'd like you, you're a nice, funny guy."

Sean blushes. "Yeah, well, that's a moot point as it's never gonna happen."

"Look, Charles didn't set out to marry a basket maker either. I bet he could have had any of the nobility of the land. And look how happy they are together."

"So you're saying I should strategically hide out in Chief MacTaggerts yard when my next heat comes, and hope for the best? I dare you to present that plan to Erik."

Armando laughs. "Thanks, I'm not that reckless. I'm just trying to look out for you, man."

Sean groans. "I appreciate the sentiment, but I'd really rather you left it alone."

Armando holds his hands up in a placating manner. "All right, all right, suit yourself. I'm here anytime if you wanna talk."

"Let's just get the shopping done."

* * *

Sean gently opens the door to Charles' and Erik's bedroom, careful not to disturb them.

Erik looks up from the book he is reading with a smile. Charles is curled against his Alpha, sleeping.

Sean holds up the plate of cookies Armando has been baking, and the pot of fresh tea.

Erik nods, and makes room on the night stand for Sean's delicious gifts.

"How is he?" Sean asks sotto voce.

"Better," Erik answers just as quietly. "Thank you. Everything all right at your end?"

Sean nods. "The chores are almost done, Alex is with the horses right now. Mando is making chicken soup for dinner."

Erik takes his hand, and tugs at it until Sean bends forward enough that Erik can press a kiss to his forehead.

"Good boy. I appreciate it very much. Be sure to take some time to relax too, okay?"

Sean grins, and nods. "Will do, boss. You let us know if you need anything, right?"

"Of course."

Sean gently closes the door on his way out with a smile. It seems like things are looking up.

* * *

_Hello dear readers!_

_Today it's a shorter piece. I actually have a severe cold myself right now, and am slowly recovering from it._

_I wanted to ask you to please once again (or for the first time) vote in the poll about the relationships for the farmhands, because right now we have a draw between Alex/Armando and Alex/Hank (together with the votes from AO3 and my own). It could go either way! Or another way altogether! You decide! :D_

_You can vote once every day._

_Pro tip: You can also add comments like "+100 for Alex/Hank" or something, they will be counted as well. _

_Thank you! The poll is at the top of my profile page._

_I hope you have a nice day without any nasty illnesses, or a speedy recovery at last._


	19. The thirty-second week

_Welcome back, dear patient readers!_

_Here is the next instalment for you. :)_

_I'm still amazed how many people read this story, leave review, faves... Please know that I appreciate you all very much. _

_I hope you had nice holidays, if you celebrate them. And I wish you all a wonderful new 2017 – with hopefully better news than those we had so much of this year._

_Please enjoy!_

* * *

"Everything is looking just fine, Charles. 8 to 9 more weeks and, if all goes well, you'll hold your healthy twins in your arms."

Charles leans back against Erik, reassured by the presence of his mate. He gives Hank a smile. "Thank you, Hank, I'm glad. Will you stay for lunch?"

Hank accepts the invitation gratefully. He has had a busy morning already, and two more visits planned in the neighbourhood. A good meal is exactly what he needs right now.

Erik gives Charles a kiss, and gets up from the bed. "I'll have a look how the preparations are going, okay? And you have my utmost thanks as well, Hank."

Charles nods, and looks after his mate until the door closes.

Then he turns back to Hank, blushing a little.

"Ummmm... There is one more question I have."

Hank smiles reassuringly. "Of course."

"Mating," Charles blurts out. "Is it - okay? Can it harm the babies?"

Hank smiles. "It's completely fine the way you have been going at it. As long as you don't experience any discomfort or pain, you are free to do whatever you like."

Charles exhales in relief. "Thank you. I was getting a little worried, especially as I'm... um..."

Hank chuckles. "Feeling more up to it lately? That's a completely normal side effect. Some have more interest, some less, some the same. Just do what feels right for you two."

Charles leans forward, and gives Hank a hug. "Thank you, really. This makes me feel much better."

From the kitchen the gong is rung. It's a fairly new addition to the household, and the boys are all having so much fun ringing it they had to enforce a strict "Once per meal" policy.

Charles and Hank wander down to join the others, but take their time washing their hands first.

Armando is serving up lunch as they enter. Charles asks if he can help, but Mando shakes his head. "Thanks, I got it, prof. You go on and sit down."

So Charles and Hank sit down, and discuss the latest articles they read.

Erik apparently has gone out to fetch Alex and Sean from the fields. Hank looks up when they come into the kitchen, and goes quiet.

Charles looks up to see Alex blushing and averting his eyes. _Interesting..._

Lunch is a happy and talkative affair nonetheless.

Afterwards Hank thanks them for their hospitality, and tells Charles he'll be by for the next check up in a month. "But please don't hesitate to come by sooner if you have any questions or concerns."

"I will, thank you."

They hug in goodbye, and soon Hank is on his way.

Alex volunteers to exercise Max this afternoon, which in this case means going for a long ride in the neighbouring area. And if he so happens to leave in the same direction Hank disappeared into... well. That's just another little unrelated fact.

* * *

"And what has you in such a good mood, Liebling?" Erik murmurs into Charles' ear later that night. Charles is in his lab, feeding the beetles Kurt and Remy brought him. He has been humming, and smiling, thinking of the happy glow on Alex' face when he returned from his ride. Erik has snuck up on him, and hugged him from behind.

Charles smiles, makes sure the lid of the terrarium is safely back on, and turns inside his husband's arms. He leans up for a kiss, and is not disappointed.

"Well... Hm, I'm not sure if I should tell you actually, could be nothing..."

Erik grins. "Tell me."

"I don't want to gossip..." Charles demurs, eyes wide and innocent.

Erik snorts, and leans forward to whisper in his ear "I have ways to make you talk, mein Schatz."

Charles shivers pleasantly, and gives Erik a coy look from under his lashes. "I really shouldn't..."

Erik gives his earlobe a sharp nip, which makes Charles yelp.

The alpha chuckles, and turns his husband towards the door with a medium strength swat. "Bedroom, now."

Charles throws him a grin over his shoulder, and sashays out. He's learned quite a bit from Raven in the last weeks, including some useful hints how to tease your Alpha.

"You might want to ease into it, though. Alphas can get quite … creative in retaliation if you go to far." Raven had advised him with a wink. Charles thinks this might be one case where the consequences are actually worth the fun beforehand.

When they arrive at their bedroom, Charles throws Erik a glance. He is thrilled, and a little cautious to see that dangerous glint in his husband's eyes again. There is a somersaulting feeling in his stomach that is quite exciting though.

It is really astounding how many new things Charles has discovered since coming to live with Erik. Looking back, he never had much interest in pleasures of the flesh while on the estate. He was so busy with the sciences, there was little time for anything else. And what little he heard or read about didn't seem that enticing, sometimes even off-putting.

Charles' conscious exploration into the physical side of their bond began slowly and sweetly. Erik is a very considerate lover, and never made Charles feel rushed or pressured. The closeness and trust built in the first weeks of their relationship are a sure and firm foundation for their bond. Charles knew instinctively that Erik would never do anything to harm him. (Hurt – well that's another question, because he certainly has no qualms about heating his Omega's backside if he feels it's warranted. But he'd never hurt him while they're intimate.)

Charles first explored Erik's body with a mixture of shyness and curiosity. But it has been a very rewarding journey every step of the way.

That he now feels bold enough to tease his Alpha is a new, and exhilarating experience.

Charles slowly walks backwards towards their bed, Erik stalking him equally slowly with a predatory grin. When Charles' knees hit the side of the mattress, Erik pounces.

Charles yelps, and then dissolves into giggles as Erik tackles him to the bed, and begins tickling him.

"Erik, stop!" He wheezes after a minute, wriggling and laughing.

Erik pins his wrists to the bed, still grinning. "All right, spill."

Charles takes a moment to get his breath back. "Oh, fine. I think our Alex may be falling in love."

Erik's grin turns into a fond smile. "I think you may be right."

He releases Charles' wrists and leans down for a kiss. Then he settles next to his husband on the bed, and lays an arm around his shoulder. Charles turns towards him at once.

"What tipped you off?" The Omega asks curiously.

"I guess you'd call it pheromones? He just has this scent of being in love around him."

"Oh! That's interesting. Do I smell like that?"

Erik kisses him. "You smell like mate, that's much better. But yeah, it's a part of it."

Charles lays down his head on Erik's shoulder with a contented sigh. "I love your scent as well. Though I don't think I could pick it up from across the room, much less in a crowded street, as you apparently can with mine."

"Don't worry, I'll always find you." Erik tells him.

"Is that a threat or a promise?"

"Both," Erik deadpans, and gives Charles' bottom a few meaningful pats. Charles remembers his attempt to leave this life behind quite well, along with Erik's reaction when he caught up with his mate. He blushes, and hides his face against Erik's shoulder.

Erik chuckles softly, and presses a kiss to his husband's hair. "So, I guess I should have a talk with Alex, hm?"

Charles nods, his eyes already closing. "I think that might be wise."

He can't suppress a yawn, and mumbles, "I should brush my teeth..."

Erik strokes his back. "Want me to help you up?" He asks softly.

Charles makes a vaguely affirmative noise, but he already sounds half-asleep. For a moment Erik is torn between letting him go to sleep, and helping him to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He knows Charles takes hygiene, and prophylactic health care very seriously. He listened to the lectures Charles gives the boys about the bacteria causing caries and infections often enough.

Erik gently shakes Charles shoulder, and smiles when his husband blinks at him owlishly. "You wanted to brush your teeth, honey."

Charles nods, hides another yawn behind his hand, but manfully tries to sit up. Erik helps him quickly. Charles' ever growing belly makes it increasingly harder for him to move around, or to perform seemingly simple tasks like tying his shoelaces. Erik, of course, does everything he can to make his mate more comfortable. Sometimes Charles still gets frustrated with his pregnancy, but overall he's much more content than in the beginning.

Just about two more months, and then they will be parents. Erik still can't quite grasp this marvel. But he looks forward to seeing their children very much.

* * *

The next morning after breakfast, Erik catches Alex' eye. "Come with me."

Alex doesn't question his boss, just takes his dishes to the sink, and follows him outside. Erik takes the path to the river, and for a minute they just walk in companionable silence.

When they arrive at the river, Erik's professional eye makes out the willow rods that would be perfect to cut now. But he still has enough of a stock in his workshop. Plus, he has only a very few wicker pieces to finish, he mostly concentrates on his work as a silversmith now.

Erik turns to his farmhand. "So. Charles and I noticed that you are fancying someone."

Alex blushes, stuffs his hands in his pockets, and studies his feet. He shrugs non-committally. Erik takes a step towards him, and lays a hand on Alex' shoulder.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of, Alex. Would you like to tell me about them?"

Alex shakes his head. "Nothing will ever come of it, so what's the point?"

"Now how do you know that? Have you talked to them?"

"No."

Erik hesitates, then carefully asks, "Are they already mated?"

Alex' head snaps up, his eyes wide. "Erik! No, of course not!"

Erik exhales in relief. That would have complicated things considerably.

"Then what is it?"

Alex looks pained. "He's just... not meant for me."

"And why would you say that, hm?" Erik asks very gently.

"He's just so … smart. And I'm … not."

Realization hits Erik like an epiphany. "It's Hank, isn't it?"

Alex nods, and turns away. His shoulders are hunched, and he rubs a hand over his eyes. Erik's heart goes out to his boy.

He steps forward, and draws Alex' into a hug, his voice a soothing rumble, "Hey, it's all right."

Alex is a little startled at first – hugs are certainly not an everyday occurrence between them. But he relaxes into Erik's embrace after a moment, drinking up his comfort.

Erik rubs his back slowly. The older Alpha thinks about how much quicker he is to comfort Charles or Sean. Just because Alex is an Alpha doesn't mean he doesn't need reassurance as well. Erik resolves to watch out more for him in the future.

Right now, Alex draws back a little, and smiles crookedly. "Thanks," he mumbles.

"Anytime. Alex, let me ask you something."

The farmhand looks at Erik, and nods.

"How do you feel when you see Hank?"

An involuntary smile appears on Alex' face, which tells Erik a lot of what he needs to know. "I'm happy. I don't want him to leave."

Erik smiles reassuringly. "That's a good start. I think you should talk to him. Find out what he thinks about a courtship."

Alex scuffs the earth with his boot. "What if he doesn't like me, though? I listen to him and Charles talk, and I don't understand half of what they're saying. He's a midwife with his own office, I'm a farmhand! What can I even offer him?"

Erik gently nudges Alex's chin up, until the boy looks at him.

"I can't promise you that all will work out between you, that's something you and Hank need to figure out together. But I want you to think about something. When Charles and I met, I was a basket maker, he was the future Earl of Westchester. He never would have chosen me as a mate. He wasn't happy with his new life _at all_ and he made that very clear. But we worked through it. I couldn't wish for a better husband, and I believe him when he tells me he's happy now. So it _is_ possible to build a life together, even if you're very different. It just takes some hard work, it doesn't come easy. You need to ask yourself: Are you willing to try?"

Alex starts to answer, but Erik lays a finger over his lips. "No, don't answer me yet. Take some time to really think it through. Okay?"

Alex nods. Erik claps a hand on his shoulder. "Great. Let's get back, there's work waiting."

Throughout the day, Erik keeps a closer eye on Alex than before. The boy seems to be contemplative, but not on edge like he had been in the last days.

What he didn't tell his boy is the fact that he noticed the same scent of being in love around Hank. It's good Alex is thinking things through rationally, not rushing into anything.

Still, Erik thinks this will work out quite nicely.

* * *

_Mein Schatz = my precious / my treasure (one of the most common German endearments)_

_That's it, lovelies!_

_I hope you had fun._

_P.S. If you'd like a look at how things could have played out differently, go check out "What could have been" at my profile._

_;-)_

_Until next time!_


End file.
